The word 球迷 is formed by directly combining two meaningful characters: 球 (qiú), which means "ball" and by extension represents ball sports or games, and 迷 (mí), which means "enthusiast", "fan", or "devotee". The concept is created by fusing these two ideas together, where the first character identifies the object of passion (ball sports) and the second character identifies the person's relationship to it (a state of ardent fascination). It is a straightforward, conceptual marriage meaning "one who is fascinated by ball games", i.e., a sports fan.