The Chinese word **弹性 (tánxìng)**, meaning "elasticity" or "flexibility," is a modern compound formed by combining two characters: **弹 (tán)**, which means "to spring," "to bounce," or "to play" (as in a string instrument), and **性 (xìng)**, a suffix meaning "nature," "property," or "-ity." Literally, it describes the "property of springing or bouncing back." This formation follows a common pattern in Chinese where a concrete action or object (弹) is combined with the abstract nominalizer (性) to create a technical or conceptual term for a physical property, and by extension, metaphorical flexibility in non-physical contexts like economics or policy.