'estrogen-promoting' originates from modern English, specifically the words 'estrogen' and 'promote', where 'estrogen' ultimately derives from New Latin 'oestrogen' (from Greek 'oistros') with the element '-gen' meaning 'to produce', and 'promote' originates from Latin 'promovere' where 'pro-' meant 'forward' and 'movere' meant 'to move'.

'estrogen' came into English as New Latin 'oestrogen' in the early 20th century and 'promote' came from Latin 'promovere' via Old French and Middle English; medical and biochemical usage in the 20th century combined them into the compound adjective 'estrogen-promoting'.

Initially, elements referred to 'sexual impulse' (Greek 'oistros') and the action 'to move forward' (Latin 'promovere'); over time 'oestrogen' became the name of a hormone and the compound now specifically means 'causing an increase in estrogen'.