The term 工夫 (gōngfu) originates from classical Chinese, where 工 signifies "work", "labor", or "time spent", and 夫 refers to a man or person, together initially denoting the time and effort invested by a person in a task. Over time, through semantic extension, it evolved to represent the skill, mastery, or refined art achieved through that dedicated practice and time. This conceptual blend, where the input (effort and time) transforms into the output (exceptional skill), is why the word is now synonymous with expertise, most famously in 功夫 (martial arts), but also applied to any cultivated ability or even a specific, elaborate task (like making 工夫茶, "gongfu tea").