'double-crop' originates from Modern English as a compound of 'double' and 'crop'; 'double' ultimately comes from Latin, specifically the word 'duplus', where the element 'du-' meant 'two', and 'crop' comes from Old English 'cropp', where it meant 'sprout' or 'top'.

'double' entered English via Old French 'double' from Latin 'duplus', and 'crop' came from Old English 'cropp'; the compound form 'double-crop' developed in Modern English (recorded usage from the 18th–19th century) to describe producing two crops in one year.

Initially it simply combined the senses of 'double' and 'crop' (literally a 'twofold crop'), but over time it evolved to refer specifically to a second crop grown in the same field within a year and the agricultural practice of growing two successive crops in one year.