'angina-like' originates from a Modern English compound of the noun 'angina' (from Latin 'angina') and the suffix '-like' (from Old English 'lic'), where 'angina' originally referred to a 'choking' or 'strangling' sensation and '-like' meant 'having the form of'.

'angina' came into English via Latin 'angina' (from Latin verb 'angere', 'to choke/strangle') and later specialized in medical usage to mean the chest-pain condition 'angina pectoris'; the suffix '-like' descends from Old English 'lic' (meaning 'having the form of'), and in Modern English the two elements were combined to form the compound adjective 'angina-like'.

Initially, 'angina' meant 'a choking or strangling sensation' (often applied to throat conditions); over time it became specialized to denote the cardiac condition 'angina pectoris' (chest pain from myocardial ischemia). The suffix '-like' has consistently meant 'resembling' and thus the compound came to mean 'resembling angina'.