The character 瞄 (miáo) by itself conveys the idea of looking or aiming with focused vision, often through a narrow sightline. It combines with 准 (zhǔn), which means "accurate" or "precise". Their formation into the compound word 瞄准 is a direct conceptual synthesis: it visually depicts the action of aligning one's sight (瞄) onto a target to achieve accuracy (准), thus creating the holistic meaning "to aim". The character combination itself mirrors the physical and mental process of targeting, first the act of looking, then the adjustment for exactness.