'discipline-centered' is a compound formed from 'discipline' and 'centered'. 'Discipline' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'disciplina' meaning 'teaching, instruction, training'. 'Centered' comes from 'center', ultimately from Latin 'centrum' via Old French/Latin 'centre', with the past-participial/adjectival suffix '-ed' in English.

'Discipline' entered English via Old French and Medieval Latin as 'disciplina' and developed into the modern English 'discipline'. 'Center' came into English from Old French/Middle English (from Latin 'centrum'), and the adjective form 'centered' developed by adding the English suffix '-ed' to indicate orientation; the compound 'discipline-centered' arose in modern academic English (20th century) to describe programs or approaches oriented around a single discipline.

Initially, 'discipline' referred to instruction, teaching, or training and 'centered' literally meant placed at the center; over time the compound came to mean an approach or organization that figuratively places a single discipline at the focus—i.e., 'focused on a single subject area'.