The word 出狱 is formed by combining two pictographic and ideographic characters to create a direct, conceptual compound. The first character, 出, originated as a pictogram of a foot stepping out of a sunken enclosure, conveying the core idea of "to exit" or "to go out". The second character, 狱, is itself an older compound picturing two dogs (犭) guarding a person who is speaking (言), symbolizing a dispute or confinement, which evolved to mean "prison" or "jail". Therefore, the word is constructed by simply placing the concept of "exiting" directly before the concept of "prison", visually and logically depicting the act of leaving a place of incarceration.