'edge-adjacent' originates from English, specifically the words 'edge' and 'adjacent', where 'edge' ultimately comes from Old English 'ecg' meaning 'border or edge' and 'adjacent' originates from Latin 'adjacens' (from 'ad-' meaning 'to' and 'jacere' meaning 'to lie').

'edge' changed from Old English 'ecg' and 'adjacent' passed into English via Latin 'adjacens' and Old French 'adjacent'; the two words have been used together in technical and descriptive contexts and later formed the hyphenated compound 'edge-adjacent' in modern English.

Initially the elements referred separately to the 'edge' and to being 'near' that edge; over time they fused into the compound meaning 'next to the edge' as a single descriptive term.