The word 礼拜 is formed by combining the concept of 礼 (ritual, propriety) with 拜 (to bow, to pay respects), directly reflecting the core activity of the religious practice from which it originates. It conceptually fuses the formal, ceremonial aspect of a "ritual" with the specific physical gesture of "bowing in reverence", originally denoting the act of religious worship, particularly in Christianity and Islam. This combined idea of "ritual bowing" was then extended by association to mean the recurring day (Sunday) on which the primary worship ritual occurs, and subsequently to the seven-day cycle (week) itself, with the day names (礼拜一, etc.) literally meaning "first day of worship" and so on.