The word 抱歉 is formed by combining two meaningful characters: 抱, which means "to hold" or "to embrace", and 歉, which means "regret", "apology", or "deficiency". Together, they create a conceptual image of "holding or carrying regret", effectively picturing the act of inwardly bearing a sense of fault or shortcoming toward another person. This formation is not a grammatical phrase but a fused compound where the first character suggests the act of containing or presenting, and the second character provides the specific content, the feeling of remorse, resulting in the modern meaning of "to be sorry" or "I apologize".