The word 原子弹 (yuánzǐdàn), meaning "atomic bomb", is a modern Chinese compound formed through semantic combination: the first component 原子 (yuánzǐ) means "atom", derived from the concept of a fundamental, indivisible particle, and the second component 弹 (dàn) means "bullet" or "bomb". It follows a common modifier-head structure in Chinese morphology, where 原子 ("atomic") acts as the modifier specifying the type, and 弹 ("bomb") serves as the core noun, literally creating the meaning "atom bomb". This construction parallels similar scientific terms in Chinese, where a descriptive element is prefixed to a core character to denote a specific technological or natural phenomenon.