The word "王颖" is formed from two characters: "王" is a pictograph originating from the shape of an axe, representing royal authority and commonly used as a surname, while "颖" is a semantic-phonetic compound consisting of "禾" (grain) as the semantic component, implying sharpness or intelligence from the concept of a grain tip, and "顷" as the phonetic component. Combined, they create a personal name with "王" as the surname and "颖" as the given name denoting cleverness.