The Chinese word 女皇 (nǚhuáng) is a compound noun formed by combining the character 女 (nǚ), meaning "female" or "woman", with the character 皇 (huáng), meaning "emperor" or "sovereign". This follows a common modifier-head structure in Chinese word formation, where the first element (女) specifies the gender or nature of the second element (皇). Therefore, the term literally translates to "female emperor" or "empress regnant", explicitly denoting a woman who reigns in her own sovereign right, as opposed to an empress consort. The construction is both semantically transparent and culturally significant, directly indicating the ruler's gender and supreme authority.