The word 美人 (měirén), meaning "beautiful person" or traditionally "beauty", is formed through the standard Chinese compound word structure of modifier + head noun. Here, 美 (měi) functions as the adjective meaning "beautiful" or "fine", and it modifies the head noun 人 (rén), meaning "person". This creates a direct and logical semantic combination, "a beautiful person". Historically and in classical texts, the term could refer to a person of either gender admired for their beauty, though in modern usage it is predominantly understood to refer to a beautiful woman.