The Chinese word "香蕉" (xiāngjiāo), meaning "banana", is formed by combining two characters: "香", which denotes "fragrant" or "aromatic", and "蕉", which historically refers to plants in the banana or plantain family. This combination creates a descriptive compound where "香" highlights the fruit's distinctive sweet smell, and "蕉" categorizes it within a specific group of tropical fruits, thus intuitively conveying the banana's key sensory and botanical traits through its literal meaning of "fragrant banana".