The Chinese word **寄养 (jìyǎng)**, meaning "to foster" or "to board (a pet)," is a compound formed by combining two meaningful characters: **寄 (jì)**, which carries the sense of "to send," "to entrust," or "to depend on," and **养 (yǎng)**, which means "to raise," "to nurture," or "to care for." Together, they create a logical semantic unit where the action of *entrusting* (寄) is directly linked to the purpose of *rearing/caring* (养), perfectly describing the act of placing someone (like a child) or something (like an animal) in another's temporary care for nurturing and support.