The word 学生 (student) is formed by combining two meaningful characters: 学, which means "to study" or "learning", and 生, which in this context means "a person" or "one who is born/lives". It is a conceptual fusion where the first character defines the primary activity, and the second character defines the type of person, literally creating the idea of "a learning person" or "one who studies". This structure is a direct and common method in Chinese for forming nouns that describe a person's role or occupation.