The word "深圳河" is formed by combining the place name "深圳", which itself consists of the characters "深" meaning "deep" and "圳" meaning "ditch" or "watercourse", with the character "河" meaning "river". This creates a compound term where "深圳" identifies the geographic location, and "河" specifies the type of natural feature, resulting in the meaning "Shenzhen River", the river flowing through that area.