'central-yolked' originates from Modern English as a compound of 'central' and 'yolk'. 'central' ultimately comes from Latin 'centrum'/'centralis', where 'centrum' meant 'center', and 'yolk' comes from Old English 'geolca' (later Middle English 'yolk'), historically related to 'yellow'.

'central' changed from Latin 'centralis' (and Greek 'kentron' via Latin) through Medieval and Early Modern English into the current English 'central'; 'yolk' changed from Old English 'geolca' (or 'ġeolca') to Middle English 'yolk' and then modern 'yolk'; the compound 'central-yolked' is a later Modern English formation combining the two.

The parts originally meant 'center' (for 'central') and 'the yellow part of an egg' (for 'yolk'); combined as 'central-yolked' it specifically denotes 'having the yolk at the center', a technical descriptive term whose meaning is stable in biological usage.