'energy-dense' originates from the combination of 'energy' and 'dense', where 'energy' refers to the capacity to do work and 'dense' means closely compacted in substance.

'energy' and 'dense' have been used in English since the 16th century, but the compound 'energy-dense' became more common in the 20th century with the rise of nutritional science.

Initially, 'dense' referred to physical compactness, but in 'energy-dense', it evolved to mean a high concentration of energy.