'high-collared' originates from Modern English as a compound formed from the adjective 'high' and the noun 'collar', where 'high' meant 'elevated' or 'tall' and 'collar' meant 'a band or covering for the neck'.

'collar' comes via Old French 'coler'/'colier' and Anglo-Norman from Latin 'collarium' (from 'collum' meaning 'neck'); 'high' derives from Old English 'heah'. These elements combined in post-medieval English to form compounds describing garment features, producing 'high-collared'.

Initially the parts referred separately to 'elevated' and to a 'neck band'; over time the compound came to be used specifically to describe garments whose collar rises high around the neck (the combined descriptive sense).