The word 盼望 (pànwàng), meaning "to hope for" or "to look forward to", is a compound formed by combining two characters with similar meanings to create a nuanced, abstract concept. The first character, 盼 (pàn), originally means "to look at" with a sense of eagerness or expectation, while the second, 望 (wàng), means "to gaze into the distance" or "to look at". When paired in this coordinative structure, their literal meanings of focused visual attention merge and extend metaphorically to express the mental and emotional act of eagerly anticipating or longing for a future event, thus intensifying the sense of hopeful expectation.