The term 酋长 (qiúzhǎng) is a compound word formed through semantic combination: the first character 酋, whose ancient meaning refers to the elder or head of a tribe (derived from its original meaning related to aged wine or alcohol, a symbol of authority and ritual), is combined with the second character 长, which means "chief", "head", or "leader". Together, they create a precise term meaning "tribal chieftain", where 酋 specifies the tribal context and 长 explicitly denotes the leadership role, resulting in a meaning that is more specific than either character alone.