The word 武士 is formed by combining two meaningful characters: 武 (wǔ), which conveys ideas of military, martial, or valorous force, and 士 (shì), which historically denotes a person of standing, a scholar-official, or a professional gentleman. When fused, these concepts merge to create a single, unified idea: the first character provides the domain (martial), and the second provides the human agent, resulting in the composite meaning of a "warrior", "knight", or "military gentry", embodying the ideal of a person dedicated to the arts of war and honor.