The word 基督教 (Jīdūjiào) for "Christianity" is formed through a conceptual translation that captures the core identity of the faith. It combines 基督 (Jīdū), a phonetic transliteration of "Christ" chosen for its meaningful characters suggesting "foundational" and "supervising" authority, with the character 教 (jiào), which means "teaching" or "religion". Thus, the term is not a direct sound loan but a constructed compound meaning "the religion of Christ", semantically defining the belief system by its central figure.