The word "生命" is formed by combining the character "生", which pictographically represents a plant sprouting from the earth and denotes birth or living, with the character "命", which is structurally composed of "令" meaning command and "口" meaning mouth, together conveying the idea of fate or lifespan; their combination yields a compound meaning where "生" provides the core concept of being alive and "命" specifies the extent or nature of that existence, resulting in the term for life.