The word 减轻 is formed through a logical, cause-and-effect combination of its two component characters. The first character, 减, means "to reduce" or "to decrease", representing an active process or action. The second character, 轻, means "light" (in weight or intensity), representing the resulting state or quality. Placed together, they sequentially depict the action of making something less heavy or severe, effectively creating a miniature conceptual sequence where the first character acts upon the meaning of the second to form the complete idea of "to lighten" or "to alleviate".