'glyoxalase-promoting' originates from modern English as a compound of the noun 'glyoxalase' and the present-participial adjective 'promoting'. 'Glyoxalase' itself is formed from 'glyoxal' + the enzyme suffix '-ase'. 'Promoting' comes from Latin 'promovere' (pro- 'forward' + movere 'to move').

'glyoxal' was coined in modern chemical nomenclature from elements 'glyco-' (from Greek 'glykys', meaning 'sweet') and 'oxal' (related to 'oxalic'), and with the enzyme-forming suffix '-ase' produced 'glyoxalase'. In scientific English the noun 'glyoxalase' combined with the present participle 'promoting' to form the descriptive compound adjective 'glyoxalase-promoting'.

Initially, the components referred specifically to an enzyme name ('glyoxalase') and the action 'to move forward' ('promote'); over time the compound came to mean 'having the property of enhancing glyoxalase activity' in biochemical contexts.