The Chinese word 掠夺 (lüèduó), meaning "to plunder" or "to loot", is a compound formed by combining two synonymous morphemes, each contributing to a sense of violent seizure. The first character, 掠 (lüè), primarily means "to seize by force" or "to ransack", while the second, 夺 (duó), means "to take by force" or "to snatch away". Together, they create a single, reinforced concept where the whole meaning is not merely the sum of its parts but an intensification of the act of forcibly taking something, typically on a significant or systematic scale, such as in war or colonization. This formation follows a common pattern in Chinese vocabulary where two characters with similar meanings are paired to form a more precise and often stronger abstract noun or verb.