The word 爱好 is formed by combining two individual characters, each contributing a layer of meaning to create a new, unified concept. The first character, 爱 (ài), means "to love" or "to have strong affection for". The second character, 好 (hào), means "to like" or "to be fond of". When placed together, they conceptually reinforce and narrow each other's meaning, merging the depth of "love" with the specific activity of "liking" to form the compound idea of a "hobby" or "fondness for" a particular activity, representing a deep and habitual personal interest.