'amphibole-poor' is a compound of 'amphibole' and 'poor'. 'amphibole' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'amphibolos', where 'amphi-' meant 'around/both' and the stem conveyed the sense of 'ambiguous' (the mineral name reflects variable appearance). 'poor' originates from Old French, specifically the word 'povre', from Latin 'pauper' meaning 'poor' or 'lacking'.

'amphibole' passed into Neo-Latin/French as 'amphibole' and then into modern English as 'amphibole'; 'poor' entered Middle English from Old French 'povre' (from Latin 'pauper'). The compound 'amphibole-poor' is a modern geological descriptive formation in English.

Initially, 'amphibole' referred to the mineral (named from a Greek root meaning 'ambiguous' in form) and 'poor' meant 'lacking'; over time their compound use came to mean 'containing little or no amphibole' in geological descriptions.