The word 渠道 (qúdào) is a compound formed by combining two characters, each contributing to its overall meaning: 渠 originally means "ditch", "canal", or "artificial waterway", while 道 means "path", "road", or "way". Literally, the term refers to a man-made channel for directing water. This concrete concept has been extended metaphorically to describe any established channel or pipeline for the flow of something abstract, such as information, goods, or distribution methods in commerce. Thus, the formation follows a common pattern in Chinese where tangible, physical nouns are combined to create a new term for an abstract or systemic concept.