The word 马路 (mǎlù, meaning "road") is formed by directly combining two concrete concepts: 马 (mǎ, "horse") and 路 (lù, "road"). It originates from a historical period when paved or wide thoroughfares were primarily designed for and dominated by horse-drawn carriages, making the "horse" the defining user and feature of such a "road". Thus, the term literally and conceptually fuses the entity (horse) with the pathway it traverses to name the modern infrastructure.