'cold-work' originates from Old English and modern English components: specifically the Old English word 'ceald' (which became English 'cold') and the Old English word 'weorc/wyrcan' (which became English 'work'), where 'ceald' meant 'of low temperature' and 'weorc/wyrcan' meant 'labor' or 'to make/do'.

'cold-work' developed as a compound of 'cold' + 'work' in English and was later adopted as a technical metallurgy term (19th century onward) to refer specifically to plastic deformation performed at low temperatures; the modern hyphenated form and the gerund/participle 'cold-working' arose as the term was used adjectivally and verbally in technical writing.

Initially it would have meant simply 'work done when cold' in a general sense, but over time it evolved into the specific metallurgical meaning 'plastic deformation of metal below its recrystallization temperature' that it has in modern technical usage.