'anthracene-poor' is a compound formed from 'anthracene' and 'poor'. 'anthracene' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'anthrax', where 'anthrax' meant 'coal'; the chemical suffix '-ene' is from systematic chemical nomenclature indicating an unsaturated hydrocarbon. 'poor' originates from Old English (via Old French and Latin), specifically from Latin 'pauper' meaning 'poor, having little.'

'anthracene' was coined in the 19th century in chemical nomenclature from Greek elements ('anthrax') plus the suffix '-ene' and entered modern English as the name for a specific coal-tar derived hydrocarbon. 'poor' evolved from Old English through Old French 'povre' (from Latin 'pauper') and became modern English 'poor'. The hyphenated compound 'anthracene-poor' is a modern English formation combining the chemical name with an adjective meaning 'lacking'.

Initially, 'anthracene' referred generally to coal-related material/coal derivatives and later came to denote a specific polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon; 'poor' initially meant 'without resources/insufficient' and retained the sense of 'lacking', which in compound use yields 'lacking anthracene' for 'anthracene-poor'.