'aluminium-coated' is a compound of 'aluminium' and 'coated'. 'Aluminium' ultimately comes from Latin 'alumen' meaning 'bitter salt' (alum), via 19th-century chemistry naming; 'coat' comes from Old English 'cote/cot' meaning a garment, later used as a verb 'to cover'.

'aluminium' was coined in the early 19th century (initially proposed as 'alumium' or 'aluminum' by Humphry Davy) and later standardized as 'aluminium' in British English; 'coat' evolved from Old English 'cote' (a garment) into the verb sense 'to cover' in Middle English. The adjective 'aluminium-coated' is a modern compound formed by combining the element name with the past-participial adjective 'coated'.

Originally 'alumen' referred to the substance 'alum'; over time the derived term 'aluminium' came to denote the metallic element. 'Coat' originally meant a garment but the verb sense 'to cover' shifted from clothing to more general coverings; together the compound now specifically means 'covered with a layer of aluminium'.