The Chinese word 处罚 (chǔfá), meaning "to punish" or "to penalize", is a compound verb formed by combining two distinct characters, each contributing essential meaning. The first character, 处 (chǔ), carries the sense of "to handle", "to deal with", or "to administer". The second character, 罚 (fá), specifically means "penalty" or "punishment". When combined, the word literally conveys the concept of "administering a penalty", where 处 implies the action of imposing and 罚 specifies the nature of the action as punitive, creating a cohesive term for meting out disciplinary consequences.