'granite-like' originates from Modern English, specifically formed by combining the noun 'granite' and the suffix '-like', where 'granite' ultimately derives from Latin 'granum' meaning 'grain' (via French 'granit') and the suffix '-like' comes from Old English '-lic' meaning 'having the form of'.

'granite' entered English via Middle French 'granit' (from Latin 'granum', 'grain'), while the Old English suffix '-lic' developed into the Middle English/modern suffix '-like'; these elements combined in Modern English to form compounds such as 'granite-like'.

Initially, 'granite' named the coarse-grained rock (literally 'grain'); over time the compound 'granite-like' came to mean 'resembling granite' and later also acquired a figurative sense of 'unyielding or stern'.