'amylase-positive' originates from modern English by combining the noun 'amylase' and the adjective 'positive'. 'Amylase' ultimately comes from Greek 'amylon' meaning 'starch', passed into Latin as 'amylum', with the enzyme-forming suffix '-ase' coined in the 19th century to name enzymes. 'Positive' derives from Latin 'positivus' (from 'ponere', to place), later used in English to mean 'showing presence' or 'confirmatory'.

'amylase' developed from Greek 'amylon' → Latin 'amylum' → the combining form 'amyl-' and the 19th-century suffix '-ase' produced 'amylase'. The compound adjective 'amylase-positive' arose in modern medical/diagnostic English to describe test results indicating the presence of that enzyme.

Initially 'amylon' meant 'starch', and 'amylase' later came to mean 'the enzyme that acts on starch'; 'positive' originally meant 'placed' or 'definite' and shifted to mean 'showing presence' in testing contexts. Combined, 'amylase-positive' now specifically means 'a test shows the presence of amylase'.