The word 收养 is formed through the logical combination of two meaningful characters: 收 (shōu), which means "to receive" or "to take in", and 养 (yǎng), which means "to nurture" or "to raise". The concept is constructed by placing the action of taking in first, which then enables and is completed by the subsequent action of raising. This sequential and cause-and-effect pairing creates a single, coherent idea of formally taking a person (often a child) into one's care and family with the purpose of providing parental upbringing.