The Chinese word "大使馆" (embassy) is formed from three characters: 大 meaning "big" or "great", 使 meaning "envoy" or "ambassador", and 馆 meaning "building" or "hall". The combination 大使 creates the term for "ambassador", where 大 denotes "chief" or "high-ranking" and 使 is "envoy". Adding 馆, which indicates a physical structure, results in "大使馆" literally meaning "the building of the ambassador" to refer to an embassy.