The word 知情 is formed through the direct conceptual combination of its two constituent characters: 知, which represents the act of knowing or being aware, and 情, which signifies the circumstances, facts, or details of a situation. Together, they create a composite idea where "knowing" is specifically applied to "the situation", resulting in the holistic meaning of "being in the know" or "having knowledge of the facts". It is a logical semantic fusion where the second character defines the precise scope or object of the action denoted by the first.