The word 辩护 is formed by combining two meaningful characters, each contributing a core concept to create a new, composite idea. The first character, 辩 (biàn), depicts a "dispute" or "debate", originally showing two people arguing with words. The second, 护 (hù), means "to protect" or "to shield", derived from the idea of a hand guarding something. When fused, 辩护 conceptually merges the act of verbal argumentation (辩) with the purpose of providing protection (护), thus forming the meaning "to defend" or "to plead a case" for someone or something.