'chromium-containing' is a compound formed from 'chromium' + 'containing'. 'Chromium' comes from modern scientific Latin/Neo-Latin 'chromium', ultimately from Greek 'chrōma' (χρῶμα) meaning 'color'; 'contain' comes from Latin 'continēre' (com- + tenēre) meaning 'to hold together'.

'Chromium' was coined in modern scientific Latin after Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin named the element in the late 18th century from Greek 'chrōma' ('color'), and it entered English as 'chromium'. 'Contain' evolved from Latin 'continēre' to Old French 'contenir' and Middle English forms (e.g. 'containen') before becoming modern English 'contain'. The compound 'chromium-containing' is formed by combining the noun and the present-participial adjective 'containing'.

Individually, 'chromium' originally referred to the element named for its colorful compounds, and 'contain' has long meant 'to hold or include'; combined, the compound straightforwardly means 'including or composed of chromium' and has retained that literal sense.