The word 大学 is formed through the conceptual combination of its two component characters: 大 (dà), meaning "big" or "great", and 学 (xué), meaning "learning" or "study". It does not simply mean "big learning", but rather fuses these ideas to create a single, unified concept of an advanced, comprehensive, and formal institution of higher learning, a university. This formation reflects a classical ideal, notably from the Confucian text also titled The Great Learning, which elevates scholarly pursuit to a grand, holistic endeavor for moral cultivation and statecraft, now institutionalized as the modern place where such broad, advanced education occurs.