'erysipelas-preventive' originates in modern English as a compound formed from 'erysipelas' + 'preventive', combining the disease name with an adjective meaning 'serving to prevent'.

'preventive' comes from Latin 'praeventivus' (from 'praevenire' meaning 'to come before', from 'prae-' before + 'venire' to come). 'Erysipelas' comes from Greek 'erysipelas' (from 'erythros' meaning 'red' and an element referring to skin), originally used to name a red inflammatory skin disease; the two elements were joined in English to form a descriptive compound.

Initially the compound simply denoted something that prevents erysipelas (the disease); this meaning is descriptive and has been retained in modern usage when the term is used.