The Chinese word 比例 (bǐlì), meaning "proportion" or "ratio", is a compound word formed by combining two meaningful characters: 比 (bǐ), which originally depicts two people standing side by side and carries the core meanings of "to compare" or "ratio", and 例 (lì), meaning "example", "precedent", or "standard rule". Together, they create a logical semantic unit where 比 provides the concept of comparison or relative measure, and 例 provides the notion of a fixed standard or model; thus, the compound precisely denotes the comparative relationship or standard measure between two quantities, perfectly encapsulating the mathematical idea of proportion.