The Chinese word **预兆 (yùzhào)**, meaning "omen" or "portent," is a compound word formed by combining two meaningful characters: **预 (yù)**, which means "in advance" or "beforehand," and **兆 (zhào)**, which means "sign" or "augury." Together, they create a logical semantic unit where the first character modifies the second, literally translating to a "pre-sign" or an "advance indication," effectively capturing the concept of a phenomenon or event that foretells or heralds something to come. This formation follows a common Chinese word-formation pattern where two related morphemes are combined to produce a new, more specific meaning.