The Chinese word **时钟** (shízhōng), meaning "clock," is a compound noun formed by combining two characters: **时** (shí), which means "time" or "hour," and **钟** (zhōng), which originally meant "bell" but has come to mean "clock." Historically, mechanical timekeeping devices often used bells to chime the hours, so the character for "bell" naturally evolved to represent time-keeping instruments. Thus, the term literally translates to "time-bell" or "hour-clock," directly describing its function as an instrument that indicates and measures time.