The word "肥料" is formed by combining the character "肥", meaning fat or fertile, which historically incorporates the "meat" radical (月) to suggest richness, with "料", meaning material or ingredient, derived from the "grain" radical (米) and a component (斗) implying measurement. Together, they create a compound where "肥" describes the enriching property and "料" denotes the substance, resulting in the term for fertilizer.