The word 要么 is formed through the combination of the character 要, which carries the core meaning of "wanting" or "requiring", and the character 么, a modal particle often used to soften tone or form questions. Conceptually, these elements fuse to create a logical structure that presents a condition or a desired choice. It evolved from a more literal sense of "if one wants" or "supposing that" into a fixed term used to introduce one of two (or more) presented alternatives, framing them as plausible or necessary selections from a set of possibilities.