'apostrophe-related' is a modern compound formed from the noun 'apostrophe' and the English adjective-forming element 'related' (from 'relate'). 'apostrophe' originates ultimately from Greek, and 'related' ultimately from Latin.

'apostrophe' entered English via Late Latin/Old French (Late Latin 'apostrophus' / Old French 'apostrofe') from Greek 'apostrophē' (from 'apostrephein'). 'related' derives from Old French 'relater' and Latin 'relatus', the past participle of 'referre'. The compound 'apostrophe-related' is a recent English formation combining these established elements.

Individually, 'apostrophe' initially had senses tied to 'turning away' in Greek but later came to denote the punctuation mark; 'related' moved from a sense of 'brought back' to the general sense 'connected with'. Together in modern usage they mean 'connected to the punctuation mark apostrophe'.