'aryl-substituted' originates from modern chemical English, formed by combining 'aryl' and 'substituted'. 'Aryl' derives from 'aromatic' (ultimately from Greek 'arōma' via Latin/French) combined with the chemical suffix '-yl' used to name radicals.

'aryl' was coined in 19th-century organic chemistry to mean an aromatic radical; 'substituted' is the past participle of 'substitute', from Latin 'substituere' (from 'sub-' + 'statuere'). Chemists combined these elements into the compound adjective 'aryl-substituted' when describing molecules bearing aryl groups.

Initially it meant 'having an aromatic radical' in a narrow sense; over time it has come to mean more broadly 'bearing an aryl group', including phenyl and substituted phenyl groups in modern organic chemistry usage.