'carb-based' originates from modern English compounding, specifically combining 'carb' (a clipped form of 'carbohydrate') and 'based' (from 'base'). 'carb' derives from 'carbohydrate', where the element 'carbo-' is related to 'carbon' and '-hydrate' to 'water', while 'base' comes from the word meaning 'foundation' or 'basis'.

'carb' is a 20th-century informal clipping of 'carbohydrate', which itself arose from 19th-century French phrases like 'hydrate de carbone' (literally 'hydrated carbon') drawing on Latin 'carbo' ('coal, carbon') and Greek 'hydôr' ('water'). 'base' comes via Latin/Greek ('basis') into English; the compound 'carb-based' developed in recent English usage to describe foods or diets centered on carbohydrates.

Initially, 'carbohydrate' named a chemical class (molecules of carbon and water). Over time 'carb' became an informal shorthand, and the compound 'carb-based' shifted the focus from strict chemical composition to dietary/culinary meaning: 'having carbohydrates as the primary component.'