The word 工人 is formed by combining two individual characters, each with its own meaning: 工 (gōng), which signifies "work" or "labor", and 人 (rén), which means "person". By placing these characters together, they create a new, compound concept where the meaning of the first character modifies or describes the second. Thus, the formation directly and logically conveys the idea of a "labor-person" or "worker".