'image-worship' originates from Modern English as a compound of 'image' and 'worship'. 'image' ultimately comes from Old French 'image', from Latin 'imago' where 'imago' meant 'likeness' or 'copy'; 'worship' comes from Old English 'weorðscipe', where 'weorð' meant 'worthy, honored' and '-scipe' meant 'state or condition'.

'image' passed from Latin 'imago' into Old French as 'image' and then into Middle English as 'image'; 'worship' developed from Old English 'weorðscipe' (constructed from 'weorð' + '-scipe') into Middle English 'worship' and then modern 'worship'. The compound 'image-worship' formed in Modern English to denote reverence of images.

Initially, the elements meant 'likeness' (image) and 'the condition of being worthy/honored' (worship); combined, the expression originally described the honoring of a likeness and over time has come to mean the practice of revering images or, figuratively, excessive admiration of images.