'high-calorie' originates from the combination of 'high,' meaning 'great in amount or degree,' and 'calorie,' which comes from the French word 'calorie,' derived from the Latin 'calor,' meaning 'heat.'

'Calorie' was adopted into English from French in the early 19th century, and 'high-calorie' became a common term in the 20th century to describe foods with a high energy content.

Initially, 'calorie' referred to a unit of heat, but it evolved to represent a unit of energy in food.