'lipid-promoting' originates from a combination of the noun 'lipid' and the present participle 'promoting'. 'Lipid' comes via Modern Latin from Greek 'lipos' meaning 'fat'. 'Promote' comes from Latin 'promovere', where 'pro-' meant 'forward' and 'movere' meant 'to move'.

'lipid' was coined in modern scientific English (early 20th century) from Greek 'lipos' through Modern Latin; 'promote' passed from Latin 'promovere' into Old French and Middle English as 'promoten'/'promoten', eventually forming the Modern English 'promote' and its participle 'promoting'. The compound 'lipid-promoting' is a modern English descriptive formation combining these elements.

Initially the parts meant 'fat' (lipos) and 'to move forward' (promovere); combined in modern usage they form a descriptive adjective meaning 'causing or favoring fat (lipid) formation or accumulation', a primarily technical/medical sense that developed with biochemical terminology.