'high-impact' originates from a combination of English 'high' and 'impact'. 'High' comes from Old English 'hēah' meaning 'tall, lofty, or great', and 'impact' comes via French and Latin from Latin 'impactus' (from past participle of 'impingere'), where 'im-' meant 'in/on' and 'pingere' (related to 'pangere') meant 'to strike'.

'impact' entered English from Late Latin 'impactus' through French (Modern French 'impact') and was adopted into English in the 17th–18th centuries meaning 'a striking', later shifting to 'effect' or 'influence'. The compound 'high-impact' is a more recent English formation (20th century onward) combining 'high' + 'impact' to describe strong effect.

Initially, 'impact' meant 'a striking or collision'; over time it evolved to mean 'an effect or influence', and 'high-impact' developed to specify a particularly strong or significant effect.