淘宝网 is formed by combining three characters: 淘 (táo), meaning "to sift" or "browse", 宝 (bǎo), meaning "treasure", and 网 (wǎng), meaning "net" or "website". The compound 淘宝 literally translates to "searching for treasures", and with 网 added, it specifies an online platform, thus naming an e-commerce site where users hunt for valuable goods.