'aluminium-containing' originates from Modern English, specifically the compound of the words 'aluminium' and 'containing'. 'aluminium' ultimately comes from Latin 'alumen', where 'alumen' meant 'alum (bitter salt)', and 'containing' derives from Latin 'continere', where 'com-' meant 'together' and 'tenere' meant 'to hold'.

'aluminium' changed from Neo-Latin and earlier English forms: Latin 'alumen' > Neo-Latin 'alumen'/'alum' > 19th-century coinages such as 'alumium'/'aluminum' and later 'aluminium' in British English. 'contain' came from Old French 'contenir' (from Latin 'continere') and entered Middle English as 'contain', with the present participle 'containing' forming normally in Modern English. The compound 'aluminium-containing' is a recent Modern English formation combining these elements.

Initially related roots referred to 'alum' or 'to hold together'; over time the combined compound came to have the straightforward descriptive meaning 'containing aluminium', which is its current usage.