'bulb-bearing' originates from the combination of 'bulb' (from Latin 'bulbus') and 'bearing' (from Old English 'beran' via Middle English 'beren'), where 'bulbus' meant 'onion, bulb' and 'beran' meant 'to carry or to bring forth'.

'bulb' entered English from Latin 'bulbus' (via Old French 'bulbe'), and 'bearing' evolved from Old English 'beran' to Middle English 'beren' and then to the modern participial form 'bearing'; combined as the compound adjective 'bulb-bearing'.

Initially it literally described 'carrying a bulb' (a plant that carries or has a bulb); over time it has come to be used more broadly for plants that produce or possess bulbs as storage organs.