The character 禁止 is formed through the logical combination of two independent characters, each contributing its core meaning to create a new, reinforced concept. The first character, 禁 (jìn), carries the inherent idea of a prohibition or restriction, often with a connotation of something being taboo or off-limits by authority or custom. It is paired with the second character, 止 (zhǐ), which is a pictograph of a foot and fundamentally means "to stop" or "to cease". Therefore, the formation is essentially semantic: 禁 ("to prohibit") + 止 ("to stop") = a compound meaning "to forbid", where 止 acts to reinforce and specify the action of halting implied by 禁, resulting in a strong, direct command to stop an activity.