The Chinese word 答案 (dá'àn), meaning "answer", is formed by combining two individual characters, each contributing conceptually to the whole. The first character, 答 (dá), on its own carries the meaning "to reply" or "to respond". It is placed alongside 案 (àn), which originally meant a "table" or "desk" but by extension came to signify a "proposal", "record", or "case file", as something laid out formally. Thus, the compound visually and conceptually creates the idea of "a formal or laid-out reply", evolving into the modern sense of a definitive answer or solution.