The word "选手" is formed through the logical combination of two meaningful characters: "选" (xuǎn), which means "to choose" or "to select", and "手" (shǒu), which literally means "hand" but is commonly used as a suffix to denote a person engaged in a particular activity or possessing a specific skill (like a "player" or "expert"). Therefore, the compound directly and conceptually signifies a "chosen hand" , that is, a person who has been selected or who qualifies for their proficiency, most commonly understood today as a "contestant" or "athlete" in a competitive context. This formation reflects a common pattern in Chinese where two characters unite to create a new, transparent concept from the sum of their parts.