The word 证据 is formed through the logical combination of two meaningful characters: 证, which means "to prove" or "to testify", and 据, which means "basis", "grounds", or "to rely on". They merge not grammatically, but conceptually, to create a single, unified idea. The first character provides the action or goal (proving), while the second provides the concrete object or means (the basis for that proof). Together, they semantically complete each other to mean "that which serves as the basis for proof", hence evidence or proof.