The Chinese word **大牢** (dàláo, meaning "prison" or "jail") is a compound noun formed through semantic combination: the character **大** (dà) means "big" or "major," while **牢** (láo) originally referred to an "enclosure for animals" or a "pen," and by extension came to mean a "prison" or a place of confinement. Thus, the term literally translates to "big enclosure," historically denoting a major, formal prison as opposed to a temporary holding cell, with its meaning evolving through metonymy where the specific feature (large size) came to represent the whole institution.