'amphibole-deficient' originates from Modern English as a compound of 'amphibole' and 'deficient'. 'Amphibole' ultimately comes from Ancient Greek amphibolos (ἀμφίβολος) via Neo-Latin/Scientific Latin, and 'deficient' comes from Latin deficere via Old French and Middle English.

'amphibole' came into scientific English from Neo-Latin 'amphibolus' (from Greek amphibolos, meaning 'ambiguous' or 'two-fold'), which was applied to a group of minerals; 'deficient' derived from Latin 'deficere' → Old French → Middle English 'deficiant/deficient', and the compound 'amphibole-deficient' is a modern English technical formation describing mineral assemblages.

Individually, 'amphibole' originally meant 'ambiguous' in Greek but came to name a mineral group; 'deficient' initially meant 'lacking' or 'failing' in Latin and has retained that sense. Together as 'amphibole-deficient' the meaning is 'lacking amphibole minerals' in contemporary geological usage.