The Chinese word 燃料 (ránliào, meaning "fuel") is formed by combining two characters based on their conceptual meanings: 燃 (rán), which means "to burn" or "to ignite", and 料 (liào), which means "material" or "substance". Therefore, the word is constructed by logically joining these ideas to create the compound concept of "burning material" or "material for burning", which directly and efficiently conveys the meaning of fuel.