'machine-printed' originates from Modern English as a compound of 'machine' + 'print', where 'machine' ultimately comes from French/Latin/Greek (Latin 'machina' from Greek 'mekhane' meaning 'device' or 'contrivance') and 'print' derives from Middle English 'printen' (from Old French), ultimately from Latin roots meaning 'to press'.

'machine' came into English via Middle French 'machine' from Latin 'machina' and Greek 'mekhane'; 'print' evolved from Middle English 'printen' (from Old French) and developed into the modern verb 'print'. The compound 'machine-print' and its past/adjectival form 'machine-printed' are formed in Modern English by compounding the two elements.

Initially the elements meant 'device' (machine) and 'to press/impress' (print); over time the compound came to mean 'produced by a mechanical printing process' with little change in the central idea.