The word 动物园 is formed through a straightforward conceptual sequence: it begins with the character 动 (dòng), which originally meant "to move" but here represents "animal" as living creatures that move; this is combined with 物 (wù), meaning "thing" or "entity", to specifically mean "animal" as a category of living entities. Finally, 园 (yuán), meaning "garden" or "enclosed park", is added to designate a place. Thus, the three characters are assembled in order to literally mean "animal entity garden", which is logically understood as the enclosed place where animals are kept, i.e., a zoo.