The word 囚禁 is formed through a vivid ideographic combination: the first character, 囚, visually depicts a person (人) trapped inside an enclosure (囗), literally meaning "to imprison". The second character, 禁, conceptually reinforces this by combining the idea of a ritual warning or taboo (示) over a forest (林), originally conveying "to forbid" or "restrict". Together, they create a compound where 囚 provides the concrete image of physical confinement, and 禁 intensifies it with the abstract sense of being forcibly prohibited and held, resulting in the comprehensive meaning of "to imprison" or "hold captive".