'American-studies' originates from modern English, specifically from the combination of the adjective 'American' and the noun 'studies'.

'American' derives from the proper noun 'America', named after the Italian explorer 'Amerigo Vespucci', while 'studies' comes from Old French 'estude' and Latin 'studium' (from the verb 'studere', 'to be eager' or 'to direct one's zeal toward'). Over time these parts combined in academic usage to form the compound phrase 'American studies' and later orthographic variants such as 'American-studies'.

Initially the components referred separately to the place-name 'America' and the act of study; over time the compound came to denote a distinct interdisciplinary academic field focused on the United States.