The Chinese word 泡菜 (pàocài) is a compound noun formed through a straightforward and common morphological process in Mandarin where the verb 泡 (pào, meaning "to soak" or "to pickle") is combined with the noun 菜 (cài, meaning "vegetable"). This creates an endocentric compound where the first element modifies the second, literally meaning "soaked/pickled vegetables", which directly and transparently refers to the fermented vegetable dish known in English as kimchi or, more generically, pickled vegetables.