'life-centered' originates from Modern English as a compound of 'life' and 'centered'; 'life' comes from Old English 'līf' meaning 'life, existence', and 'centered' is formed from 'center' plus the past-participle/adjectival suffix '-ed'.

'life' derives from Old English 'līf' and has been used in English since its earliest stages; 'center' comes into English via Old French and Latin 'centrum', ultimately from Greek 'kentron' meaning 'sharp point' or 'center', and the adjectival form 'centered' developed in later Modern English to describe something placed at or around a center, producing the compound 'life-centered'.

Initially the components referred separately to 'life' and being 'at a center'; combined in Modern English they came to mean 'having life as the center or primary concern', a specialized evaluative or descriptive sense that emerged in modern ethical, ecological, and design contexts.