The word 同性恋 is formed by combining three meaningful characters: 同 (tóng), meaning "same"; 性 (xìng), meaning "gender" or "sex"; and 恋 (liàn), meaning "romantic love" or "attachment". It is constructed conceptually by sequentially defining its core idea: first establishing "sameness" (同), then specifying the domain of "gender" (性), and finally attaching the concept of "love" (恋) to create the complete notion of "same-gender love".