The word **儿时** is formed through the combination of the morpheme **儿** (ér), meaning "child" or "son," and the morpheme **时** (shí), meaning "time" or "period." It is a classical and literary compound noun where **儿** acts as a modifier describing the kind of time, resulting in the meaning "childhood" or "the time of being a child." This structure follows a common pattern in Chinese word formation known as a modifier-head or *zhōngxīn yǔ* (中心语) construction, where the first element specifies the latter, similar to "school time" or "summer time." The term evokes a nostalgic and affectionate sense of one's early years.