The word **悬赏** is formed through semantic compounding, combining two characters: **悬**, meaning "to hang" or "to suspend," and **赏**, meaning "reward" or "prize." Historically, it evokes the image of a reward notice being publicly posted or "hung up" for all to see, thereby metaphorically "suspending" a prize to be claimed. Thus, the term conceptually fuses the act of publicly announcing (**悬**) with the promised compensation (**赏**) to form its modern meaning of "offering a reward," typically for information or the capture of a person.