The Chinese word 鞠躬 (jūgōng), meaning "to bow respectfully", is a compound formed through the combination of two characters: 鞠 (jū), which historically carries meanings related to bending or curving, and 躬 (gōng), which means "body" or "person". Together, they create a vivid metaphorical image of "bending one's body", perfectly capturing the physical act and respectful intent of a bow. This formation follows a common pattern in Chinese where two semantically related characters are joined to produce a new, specific verb whose meaning is derived from the sum of its parts.