The Chinese word 指数 (zhǐshù), meaning "exponent" or "index", is a compound term formed through semantic combination: the character 指 (zhǐ) means "to point" or "to indicate", and 数 (shù) means "number" or "figure". Together, they create the conceptual meaning of an "indicating number", that is, a number (the exponent) that points to or specifies how many times a base number is to be multiplied by itself, perfectly capturing the mathematical function of an exponent as an indicator of repeated multiplication.