'low-thermal-response' originates from Modern English as a compound of three elements: 'low' (Old English 'hlāw' meaning 'not high/near the ground'), 'thermal' (from Greek 'thermos' via Latin/Latinized forms meaning 'hot, heat'), and 'response' (from Latin 'respondere' via Old French 'response' meaning 'to answer or react').

'low' comes from Old English 'hlāw' meaning 'not high'; 'thermal' traces to Greek 'thermos' ('hot') that passed into scientific Latin/Neo-Latin as 'thermalis'; 'response' developed from Latin 'respondere' to Old French 'response' and into Middle English before modern use. The modern compound formed by combining these English elements to describe heat-related behavior.

Individually the components kept their core senses ('low' = small/less, 'thermal' = relating to heat, 'response' = reaction); combined, they evolved to denote a technical property: a small or slow reaction to thermal input.