The Chinese word 辨别 (biànbié), meaning "to distinguish" or "discriminate between," is a compound formed by combining two semantically similar characters to create a more precise and nuanced meaning. The first character, 辨 (biàn), carries the core idea of "to distinguish, differentiate, or discriminate," often through analysis or judgment. The second character, 别 (bié), independently means "to separate" or "to differentiate." When paired together in this coordinative (or synonymous) compound structure, they reinforce and specify each other, intensifying the sense of making careful distinctions between similar things, thereby creating a word whose meaning is more focused than either character alone.