The Chinese word 袋鼠 (dàishǔ), meaning "kangaroo," is a descriptive compound formed by combining the characters 袋 (dài), meaning "bag" or "pouch," and 鼠 (shǔ), meaning "rat" or "mouse." It is a literal and visual translation of the animal's most distinctive feature, essentially naming it a "pouch-rat" or "bag-mouse," which directly corresponds to the marsupial's rodent-like appearance and its defining abdominal pouch.