The word "符号" is formed by combining two meaningful characters: "符", which carries the core idea of a tally, token, or something that corresponds to and represents something else (like a tally split in two for verification), and "号", which means a mark, a sign, or a signal. Together, they fuse their meanings to create the single, unified concept of a "symbol" or "sign", an object, mark, or sound that conventionally stands for or points to something else, capturing both its representative nature ("符") and its function as a distinguishing marker ("号").