The word 真理 (zhēnlǐ, "truth") is formed by combining two conceptual characters: 真, meaning "true", "real", or "genuine", which conveys the essence of authenticity and correspondence with fact, and 理, meaning "principle", "reason", or "inner order", which represents the underlying structure or rationale of things. Together, they create a compound that conceptualizes "truth" not merely as a factual statement, but as the genuine and fundamental principle or coherent order of reality itself, reflecting a classical philosophical understanding where truth is the alignment with the inherent and reasoned pattern of the universe.