The Chinese word 日历 (rìlì), meaning "calendar", is a compound word formed by combining two characters: 日 (rì), which means "sun" or "day", and 历 (lì), which means "to pass through", "experience", or, in this context, "record" or "calendar". Historically, 历 refers to the system of reckoning time based on astronomical cycles. Thus, the compound 日历 literally translates to "day record", accurately describing an object (like a daily desk calendar or wall calendar) that displays a sequence of days and dates for practical timekeeping, directly reflecting its function as a tangible record of the passage of days.