The word 好奇心 is formed by combining three characters: 好 (hào), meaning "to be fond of"; 奇 (qí), meaning "strange" or "curious"; and 心 (xīn), meaning "heart" or "mind". Together, they create a compound where 好 modifies 奇, and 心 nominalizes the concept, resulting in a term that literally denotes "a mind fond of curious things", thus meaning "curiosity".