The Chinese word **石膏** (shígāo, meaning "plaster" or "gypsum") is a compound word formed through semantic combination. It consists of the character **石** (shí), meaning "stone," and **膏** (gāo), meaning "paste," "cream," or "ointment." This structure directly describes the substance's nature and traditional use: a stone-derived (specifically from the mineral gypsum) powder that, when mixed with water, forms a paste-like material used for immobilizing broken bones or in construction. The formation is therefore transparently logical, where the two morphemes combine their meanings to create a new, specific term.