The word 人物 is formed through the conceptual combination of two foundational characters: 人, meaning "person" or "human", and 物, meaning "thing", "object", or "entity". Together, they create a compound idea where a person is not viewed merely as an individual but is elevated or defined as a substantive entity with distinct qualities, importance, or role. This fusion essentially abstracts the notion of a "person" into the more complex idea of a "character" or "personage", often implying a figure of note, a personality in a story, or a person of standing, where the second character 物 lends a sense of substance, distinction, or archetypal nature to the human subject.