The Chinese word 谣传 (yáochuán), meaning "rumor" or "to rumor," is a compound formed through the combination of two meaningful characters: 谣 (yáo), which specifically denotes an unfounded or folk story, often a ballad or a groundless tale, and 传 (chuán), which means "to transmit," "spread," or "pass on." Together, they create a coordinated verb-noun compound where 传 acts upon 谣, literally conveying the concept of "spreading unfounded talk," thus semantically merging to define both the act of circulating rumors and the rumor itself as a piece of disseminated, unverified information.