'aluminium-rich' originates from English, specifically the word 'aluminium' combined with the suffix '-rich', where 'aluminium' referred to the metal element and '-rich' meant 'having a large amount of'.

'aluminium' was coined in modern English from New Latin 'aluminium', itself ultimately from Latin 'alumen' (meaning 'alum'); the element's name was altered in early 19th-century usage (Davy's forms 'alumium'/'aluminum') before 'aluminium' became the common British form, and the compound 'aluminium-rich' formed by adding '-rich' to indicate abundance.

Initially, 'aluminium' named the chemical element; over time the compound 'aluminium-rich' came to mean 'having a high content of aluminium' in materials, ores, soils, or products.