The Chinese word **格外** is formed through the logical combination of its two constituent characters: **格**, which originally meant "a standard, pattern, or boundary" (like a grid line), and **外**, meaning "outside" or "beyond." When combined, the literal sense is "outside the standard boundary," which metaphorically extends to mean "exceeding the ordinary or usual measure." This semantic shift from a concrete spatial concept (outside the grid) to an abstract adverbial meaning captures the idea of something being exceptional, special, or to an unusual degree, hence its modern usage as "especially" or "exceptionally."