'evil-doing' originates from Old English, specifically the word 'yfel' for 'evil' and the verb 'dōn'/'don' meaning 'to do', with the gerund-forming suffix '-ing' producing 'doing'. The modern compound was formed by joining 'evil' + 'doing'.

'evil' comes from Old English 'yfel' and 'do' from Old English 'dōn'; through Middle English these became 'evil' and 'do/doing', and speakers eventually compounded them into the modern English 'evil-doing'.

Initially the components referred separately to 'badness' ('evil') and the act of performing something ('doing'); combined, they have long been used to mean 'an act that is morally bad', a sense that has remained broadly stable into modern usage.