The word 中午 is formed by the direct conceptual combination of its two component characters: 中 (zhōng), meaning "middle" or "center", and 午 (wǔ), which specifically refers to the period of the day traditionally known as "noon" (11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the ancient Chinese timekeeping system). Together, they logically and visually pinpoint the very center of that noon period, creating the concept of "midday" or "noon". It is a straightforward semantic fusion where the first character specifies the positional relation within the timeframe denoted by the second.