'carbonate-containing' originates from English, formed by combining the noun 'carbonate' (from French 'carbonate' and Medieval Latin 'carbonatus') and the present participle 'containing' (from Latin 'continere' via Old French 'contenir'), where 'carbonate' referred to a salt of carbonic acid and 'containing' meant 'having within'.

'carbonate' passed into English from French 'carbonate', itself from Medieval Latin 'carbonatus' (related to 'carbon'/'carbo-'); 'contain' comes from Latin 'continere' through Old French 'contenir' into Middle English, with the adjectival '-containing' compound formation arising in Modern English to denote 'having X as a component'.

Initially, 'carbonate' meant 'a salt of carbonic acid' and 'containing' meant 'holding within'; together the compound came to mean 'having carbonate as a constituent', a usage that has remained stable in technical and descriptive contexts.