The Chinese word 成本 (chéngběn), meaning "cost", is a compound noun formed through the combination of two meaningful characters: 成 (chéng), which carries the sense of "to accomplish", "to become", or "completed", and 本 (běn), which originally means "root", "origin", or "fundamental basis". Together, they create a conceptual unit where 本 represents the foundational capital, investment, or expenditure, and 成 implies the outlay or resource that must be "put in" or "become spent" to accomplish or produce something. Thus, the term literally and logically conveys the idea of the "root expenditure that brings something to completion", effectively encapsulating the modern economic concept of cost.