The Chinese word 贫民窟 (pínmínkū), meaning "slum", is a straightforward compound noun formed by combining three meaningful characters: 贫 (pín, "poor"), 民 (mín, "people" or "populace"), and 窟 (kū, "cave", "den", or "hole"). The term follows a descriptive and logical structure, where 贫民 ("poor people") modifies 窟 ("a cave-like dwelling place"), effectively creating the concept of "a densely populated area of very poor, substandard housing", thus semantically and structurally equivalent to the English word "slum".