The Chinese word 金库 (jīnkù), meaning "treasury" or "vault", is a compound noun formed through semantic combination. It consists of the character 金 (jīn), which originally means "gold" but by extension represents "money" or "wealth", and the character 库 (kù), which means "warehouse" or "repository". Together, they create a literal and logical meaning of a "repository for wealth/money", precisely defining a secure place where valuables, especially currency and gold reserves, are stored.