The Chinese word **分支** (fēnzhī), meaning "branch" or "subdivision," is a compound word formed through a straightforward semantic combination of its two constituent characters. The first character, **分** (fēn), carries the core meaning of "to divide," "to separate," or "a part." The second character, **支** (zhī), fundamentally means "branch" (as of a tree) or "to support." When combined, they create a modifier-head structure where **分** ("dividing") describes the type of **支** ("branch"), resulting in the conceptual meaning of a "dividing branch"—that is, a subsidiary section, an offshoot, or a subordinate part that splits from a main body, widely used in contexts like organizations, software code, academic disciplines, and family lineages.