'anthracene-containing' is a modern English compound formed from 'anthracene' and 'containing'. 'Anthracene' ultimately originates from Greek 'ánthrax' where the root meant 'coal' (used in 19th-century chemical naming to denote coal-related substances), and 'containing' comes from Latin 'continēre' where 'con-'/''com-'' meant 'together' and 'tenēre' meant 'to hold'.

'Anthracene' was coined in 19th-century chemical literature from Greek 'ánthrax' ('coal') with the -ene suffix used for hydrocarbons; 'contain' evolved from Latin 'continēre' → Old French/Middle English forms → modern English 'contain', with the present participle 'containing' used to form adjectival compounds like 'X-containing'.

Originally the Greek root related broadly to 'coal' and substances derived from it; as chemical nomenclature developed, 'anthracene' came to denote a specific polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. 'Containing' retained the sense 'holding or including', so the compound adjective now specifically means 'having anthracene present'.