The word 实验 (shíyàn), meaning "experiment", is formed by the conceptual combination of two independent characters: 实 (shí), which carries the core idea of "real", "actual", or "solid", and 验 (yàn), which means "to test", "to examine", or "to verify". The compound thus conceptually portrays the process or action of conducting a real-world test to verify or prove something, directly mirroring the act of experimentation as a practical trial. Its formation is not grammatical but ideographic, where the two semantic ideas merge to create a single, more specific meaning.