The word "徒劳" is formed through the common Chinese morphological process of compounding, where two independent characters, each with their own meaning, are combined to create a new, specific concept. The first character, "徒" (tú), carries meanings of "in vain" or "to no avail," while the second, "劳" (láo), means "labor" or "toil." When joined, they create a modifier-head structure where "徒" modifies "劳," literally meaning "vain labor" or "futile effort," which functions as an adjective or verb to describe actions that are pointless and yield no result.