硕果仅存 is formed by sequentially combining the characters 硕 (meaning "large" or "great"), 果 (meaning "fruit" or "result"), 仅 (meaning "only" or "merely"), and 存 (meaning "remain" or "exist"). The literal composition "only the large fruit remains" directly yields the idiomatic meaning of a scarce survivor or remnant from what was once more abundant, through the straightforward semantic contribution of each character.