'device-centered' originates from English, formed by combining 'device' and the adjective-forming element '-centered', where 'device' originally referred to a tool or contrivance and '-centered' meant 'placed at or focused on a center'.

'device' comes from Old French 'devis' or 'device' (meaning 'a contrivance' or 'design') and entered Middle English; 'centered' derives from 'center' which comes from Latin 'centrum' via Greek 'kentron'. The compound 'device-centered' is a modern English formation that emerged in technical and design discourse in the late 20th century.

Initially, 'centered' meant 'placed at the middle'; when combined with nouns like 'device' it evolved into a figurative sense 'focused on' or 'organized around' that noun, yielding the current meaning of 'focused on devices'.