The Chinese word **报销 (bàoxiāo)** is a compound verb formed by combining two characters: **报 (bào)**, meaning "to report" or "to declare," and **销 (xiāo)**, meaning "to cancel," "to sell," or "to expend." Together, they create a meaning that conceptually moves from "submitting a report to cancel a debt" to the modern financial sense of "to apply for reimbursement" or "to write off expenses." Historically, the term originated in bureaucratic or accounting contexts, where one would *report* (报) expenses to have them *cleared or canceled* (销) from one's account, effectively getting repaid. Thus, the formation is logical and semantic, where the action of the first character enables the result conveyed by the second.