The word 公民 is formed by combining two existing characters, each contributing a core meaning to create a new, unified concept. The first character, 公 (gōng), carries the meaning of "public", "common", or "collective". The second character, 民 (mín), means "the people" or "a person of the populace". When joined, the concept synthesizes into "a person belonging to and participating in the public collective", effectively forming the modern idea of a "citizen" , an individual with membership and recognized rights and duties within a political community or state.