The word 似乎 is formed by combining the character 似, which means "to resemble" or "to be like", with the classical Chinese particle 乎, which often expresses a sense of questioning or approximation. Together, they create a single conceptual unit where the literal notion of "resembling" is softened and made tentative by the speculative tone of 乎, resulting in the modern meaning of "seemingly" or "as if".