'carbohydrate-linked' originates from the combination of 'carbohydrate' and 'linked', where 'carbohydrate' refers to organic compounds consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and 'linked' means connected or joined.

The term 'carbohydrate-linked' evolved from the scientific need to describe molecules with carbohydrates attached, particularly in biochemistry.

Initially, it referred to any connection involving carbohydrates, but now it specifically denotes biochemical compounds with carbohydrate attachments.