'battery-powered' originates from the combination of 'battery' and 'powered', where 'battery' refers to a device that stores energy and 'powered' means supplied with energy.

'battery' comes from the Old French word 'batterie', meaning 'action of beating', and 'powered' is derived from the Latin word 'potere', meaning 'to be able'.

Initially, 'battery-powered' referred to devices that could operate using stored electrical energy, and this meaning has remained consistent.