'anisoyl-bearing' is formed from the chemical element 'anisoyl' and the English present-participle 'bearing'. 'anisoyl' ultimately originates from New Latin/French words derived from Latin 'anisum' (itself from Greek 'ánison'), where 'anisum' meant 'anise', and the suffix '-oyl' is a modern chemical formation indicating an acyl radical; 'bearing' originates from Old English 'beran', meaning 'to carry'.

'anisoyl' arose in 19th-century chemical nomenclature as a name for the acyl group related to anisic (anisic acid) and was combined with English compounds; over time chemists formed adjectival compounds like 'anisoyl-bearing' to describe molecules that 'carry' that group. 'bearing' evolved from Old English usage 'beran' through Middle English into modern 'bearing'.

Initially, elements of the word referred directly to 'anise' or 'anisic' origins and to the grammatical notion of 'carrying'; over time the compound came to specifically denote a chemical species 'carrying an anisoyl moiety' in technical nomenclature.