The word "猪头" is formed by directly combining the character 猪 (zhū), meaning "pig", with the character 头 (tóu), meaning "head", to create a compound noun. This results in a literal meaning of "pig's head", where 猪 modifies 头 to specify the type of head. The term functions primarily as a noun referring to the physical head of a pig, but it also sees colloquial use as an insult implying stupidity, derived from the metaphorical association of a pig's head with foolishness.