'analcime-poor' is a modern English compound combining the mineral name 'analcime' and the adjective 'poor'. 'Analcime' entered scientific English in the 19th century as the mineral name (borrowed via scientific Latin and modern European languages), while 'poor' comes from Old French 'povre' and ultimately Latin 'pauper' meaning 'poor, few'.

'Analcime' was adopted into scientific vocabularies from late Latin/modern European usage for the mineral; 'poor' evolved from Old French and Middle English. The compound 'analcime-poor' arose in modern geological literature (20th century onward) to concisely describe rocks lacking analcime.

Originally 'poor' meant 'low in quality or quantity'; in the compound it retained the quantitative sense and specialized to mean 'low or lacking in analcime'.