The Chinese word 残暴 (cánbào), meaning "cruel", "brutal", or "savage", is a compound formed through the combination of two synonymous or semantically reinforcing characters. The first character, 残 (cán), originally conveys ideas of "injury", "mutilation", or "ruthlessness", while the second, 暴 (bào), carries meanings of "violent", "fierce", or "tyrannical". When paired, they create a coordinated or parallel compound (并列结构) where each component amplifies and specifies the other, resulting in a term that denotes a particularly severe, cruel, and violent form of brutality, stronger than either character alone. This formation follows a common pattern in Chinese lexicon development where two morphemes with related meanings are combined to solidify an abstract concept.