The word 普遍 (pǔbiàn) is formed through the combination of two complementary characters: 普, meaning "universal" or "general", and 遍, meaning "everywhere" or "all over". This structure is a type of compound where both morphemes reinforce a related concept, creating an adjective that describes something as widespread, common, or applicable to all cases and places. The term thus semantically merges the ideas of broad scope (普) and comprehensive coverage (遍) to convey the sense of being pervasive, general, or ubiquitous, as in "universal truth" (普遍真理) or "common phenomenon" (普遍现象).