The word 男士 is formed by combining the character 男 (nán), meaning "male", with 士 (shì), a classical term denoting a scholar, gentleman, or person of respectable standing. This fusion creates a modern, compound noun that conceptually elevates the notion of a "man" from a simple gender designation to one implying dignity, refinement, and social respectability, essentially forming the idea of a "gentleman". It was constructed in the early 20th century as part of a movement to modernize Chinese vocabulary, intentionally using the classical 士 to lend an air of cultivated propriety to the contemporary term for an adult man.