'English-speaker' originates from Modern English, specifically the words 'English' and 'speaker', where 'English' derives from Old English 'Englisc' referring to the Angles (the people) and the language associated with them, and 'speaker' comes from Old English 'specan'/'spræc' meaning 'to speak'/'speech'.

'English' changed from Old English word 'Englisc' (from the name of the Angles) into Middle English 'Englissh' and modern 'English'; 'speaker' developed from Old English 'specan' (verb) and related nouns through Middle English forms 'speken'/'speche' to the modern noun 'speaker', and the compound form 'English-speaker' arose in Modern English.

Initially, the elements meant 'of the Angles/language of the Angles' ('English') and 'one who speaks' ('speaker'); over time the compound came to specifically mean 'a person who speaks the English language' (either natively or as a learned language).