'grapevine-related' originates from English, formed from 'grapevine' + 'related', where 'grapevine' meant 'a vine that bears grapes' and 'related' meant 'connected or associated.'

'grapevine' combines 'grape' (from Old French 'grape/grappe' ‘cluster, bunch’) and 'vine' (from Latin 'vinea' ‘vine, vineyard’). 'Related' comes from 'relate' (via Latin 'relatus', past participle of 'referre'). The hyphenated compound emerged in modern English to modify nouns with either the literal or figurative sense of 'grapevine.'

Initially, it meant 'connected with grapevines' in the literal agricultural sense, but it also came to include the figurative sense 'connected with the rumor network' as 'the grapevine' gained that meaning in modern usage.