'libido-enhancing' is a modern English compound combining 'libido' and 'enhancing'. 'libido' originates from Latin 'libido', where the root 'libid-' meant 'desire, lust'. 'enhancing' derives from the verb 'enhance', which entered English via Old French 'enhauncer' (later 'enhauncer'/'enhauscer'), ultimately from elements meaning 'to raise' or 'make higher'.

'libido' entered English usage from Latin (via scholarly and medical texts) in the 18th–19th centuries, becoming common in psychological and medical contexts; 'enhance' passed into Middle English from Old French 'enhauncer' and developed into the modern English 'enhance', and the compound 'libido-enhancing' is a recent formation combining the two words.

Individually, 'libido' originally meant 'desire' (especially sexual desire) and 'enhance' meant 'to raise or improve'; together as a compound the phrase has come to mean 'causing an increase in sexual desire' in modern usage.