The word 雪花 (xuěhuā, snowflake) is formed as a compound of the characters 雪 (xuě), meaning "snow", and 花 (huā), meaning "flower". This is a classical example of a modifier-head or attributive structure in Chinese word formation, where the first element describes the nature of the second. The character 花 is used metaphorically to depict the delicate, branching, and flower-like shape of an individual snow crystal, thus creating the poetic and visually descriptive term "snow flower" for a snowflake.