'bio-based' originates from Modern English, specifically formed from the combining form 'bio-' (from Greek 'bios') and the adjective 'based' (from 'base'), where 'bio-' meant 'life' and 'based' meant 'having a base or foundation.'

'bio-' comes from Greek 'bios' ('life'), which entered New Latin and Modern English as a productive prefix for compounds (e.g. 'biohazard'). 'Base' comes via Old French 'base' from Latin/Greek 'basis'. The compound 'bio-based' is a modern 20th-century coinage combining these elements to mean 'having its basis in biological material.'

Initially the elements meant 'life' (bio-) and 'foundation/base' (base); the compound originally described something having its basis in biological material, and over time it came to specifically denote products or materials derived from renewable biological sources.