思维 (sī wéi) literally combines 思 (sī, 'to think') and 维 (wéi, archaic meaning 'to maintain' or 'to hold together'), suggesting the structured, ongoing process of thinking itself. It refers to the mental activity of reasoning, analyzing, and forming ideas — not just a single thought, but the overall pattern or framework of cognition. In Chinese, it’s commonly used in academic, psychological, and educational contexts to discuss how people understand the world.

This word often appears in compound terms like 创造性思维 (chuàngzào xìng sīwéi, 'creative thinking') or 逻辑思维 (luóji shì sīwéi, 'logical thinking'). Unlike the verb 想 (xiǎng, 'to think'), 思维 is strictly a noun and usually requires modifiers (e.g., 抽象思维, 'abstract thinking') or verbs like 发展 (fāzhǎn, 'to develop') or 影响 (yǐngxiǎng, 'to influence') to function naturally in sentences.