'field-dwelling' originates from a Modern English compound of two Old English roots: 'field' (from Old English 'feld', meaning 'open land') and 'dwelling' (from Old English 'dwellan', later Middle English 'dwellen', meaning 'to live or reside').

'field' developed from Old English 'feld' into Middle English and then Modern English 'field'; 'dwelling' derived from Old English 'dwellan' → Middle English 'dwellen' with the -ing nominalizer producing 'dwelling'; the two elements were combined in Modern English to form the compound 'field-dwelling'.

Initially it conveyed the basic sense of 'living on open land'; over time this literal meaning has largely been retained and is used descriptively (adjective) or nominally (noun) to denote inhabitants of fields.