The word 幼稚 is formed by combining two characters that each contribute related meanings to create a new, reinforced concept. The first character, 幼 (yòu), pictorially represents the strength of a young child (幺) combined with the force of a hand wielding a hoe (力), originally conveying "young" or "immature". The second, 稚 (zhì), consists of 禾 (grain plant) and 隹 (short-tailed bird), originally referring to young grain sprouts and, by extension, "young", "tender", or "childish". When paired, their shared semantic field of youthful undevelopment amplifies and abstracts the idea, moving from literal physical youth to denote naive, simplistic, or immature thinking and behavior.