The Chinese word **怀旧 (huáijiù)**, meaning "nostalgia," is a compound word formed by combining two meaningful characters: **怀 (huái)**, which means "to cherish," "to harbor (feelings)," or "to hold in mind," and **旧 (jiù)**, which means "old" or "the past." Together, they create a semantic fusion where **怀** provides the action of cherishing or yearning, and **旧** provides the object of that feeling—the bygone era. This construction follows a common verb-object (or thought-object) pattern in Chinese, resulting in a concept that literally translates to "cherishing the old," effectively capturing the emotional essence of nostalgic reflection.