The word 动物 (dòngwù), meaning "animal", is formed through a direct and logical combination of its two component characters. The first character, 动 (dòng), means "to move" or "movement". The second, 物 (wù), means "thing" or "creature". Thus, the compound conceptually fuses these ideas to create the core definition of an animal as a "moving creature" or "thing that moves", effectively distinguishing animate beings from static objects or plants in a visually intuitive way.