'bauxite-scarce' is a compound formed from 'bauxite' and 'scarce'. 'Bauxite' originates from French, specifically the place name 'Baux' (Les Baux-de-Provence), where the ore was first described and named; the French mineral name 'bauxite' was adopted into English in the 19th century. 'Scarce' originates from Old French 'escars' (meaning 'scanty, rare').

'bauxite' entered English in the 1800s from French 'bauxite' (named after Les Baux). 'scarce' entered English via Middle English/Old French as 'escars' and developed into the modern adjective 'scarce'; the compound 'bauxite-scarce' is a modern English formation combining the mineral name with the adjective.

Individually, 'bauxite' originally named the ore discovered near Les Baux and has retained that mineral meaning; 'scarce' originally meant 'scanty' or 'rare' in Old French and has come to mean 'insufficient in supply' in modern English. The compound 'bauxite-scarce' combines these unchanged senses to mean 'lacking or short of bauxite.'