The Chinese word 粒子 (lìzi), meaning "particle" (as in a physical particle or grain), is a compound noun formed through morphological derivation. The first character, 粒 (lì), originally means "grain" or "small spherical object", serving as the core semantic component that denotes something small and granular. The second character, 子 (zi), is a very common nominal suffix that often attaches to nouns, frequently adding a sense of smallness or concreteness, or simply functioning as a neutral noun-forming particle. Together, 粒 provides the specific meaning of a granular entity, while 子 grammaticalizes it into a standard, discrete noun, resulting in the modern term used for fundamental particles in physics as well as for particles in a general sense.