The word 水晶 (shuǐjīng) for "crystal" is formed through a direct and vivid conceptual analogy. It combines 水 (shuǐ), meaning "water", with 晶 (jīng), meaning "sparkling" or "clear crystalline substance". The formation captures the observed essence of a pure, transparent mineral like quartz or rock crystal, whose clarity and luminous quality were seen by ancient Chinese observers as resembling water that had been frozen or solidified into a permanent, sparkling, and radiant form.