'continuous-assessment-based' is a modern compound created in educational contexts by combining 'continuous' + 'assessment' + 'based' to mean 'based on continuous assessment'.

'continuous' comes from Latin 'continuus' (via Old French and Middle English), 'assessment' from Old French/Latin roots of 'assess' (assessare/assidere) plus the suffix '-ment' in Modern English, and 'based' is formed from 'base' (from Old French/Latin 'basis'). The compound itself arose in 20th-century educational discourse as continuous assessment practices became common.

Initially, the component words referred separately to 'without interruption' ('continuous'), 'evaluation' ('assessment'), and 'having a base' ('based'); over time they were combined into the current compound meaning 'having evaluation determined by ongoing assessment'.