'aluminium-heavy' originates from Modern English as a compound of 'aluminium' and 'heavy'. 'aluminium' itself comes from New Latin 'aluminium' (coined in the early 19th century), and 'heavy' comes from Old English 'hefig' meaning 'weighty'.

'aluminium' was coined in New Latin/modern scientific English (early 1800s) from Latin 'alumen' (alum) with the chemical suffix '-ium'; 'heavy' evolved from Old English 'hefig' through Middle English to modern 'heavy'. The compound 'aluminium-heavy' formed in Modern English by straightforward compounding of the metal name and the adjective 'heavy'.

Initially the parts meant 'relating to aluminium' and 'weighty'; combined, the compound simply described something 'heavy in aluminium content.' Over time it has come to be used specifically to describe materials, mixtures, or objects with a high aluminium proportion.