The Chinese word 社团 (shètuán), meaning "club", "association", or "society", is a compound formed by combining two meaningful characters: 社 (shè), which originally referred to an altar for the earth god and evolved to mean "society" or "organized group", and 团 (tuán), which means "group", "circle", or "united body". Together, they create a modifier-head structure where 社 ("social") describes the type or purpose, and 团 ("group") serves as the core noun, semantically fusing to specify an organized, collective body of people united by common interests, activities, or goals within a social context.