The Chinese word 冰山 (bīngshān), meaning "iceberg," is a compound formed by combining two individual characters: 冰 (bīng), which means "ice," and 山 (shān), which means "mountain." It is a straightforward nominal compound where the first element describes the material or substance, and the second denotes the form or object, creating a literal "ice-mountain" to represent the large floating mass of ice. This formation follows a common pattern in Chinese where two concrete nouns are combined to create a new, metaphorical concept—in this case, also symbolizing something where only a small, visible part is apparent while the vast majority remains hidden.