'metal-based' originates from English, combining the noun 'metal' (from Old English 'metæl', from Latin 'metallum', from Greek 'metallon' meaning 'mine, quarry, metal') and the past-participle adjective 'based' (from the noun 'base', ultimately from Greek 'basis' via Late Latin and Old French, meaning 'step, pedestal, foundation').

'metal' changed from Greek 'metallon' to Latin 'metallum', then to Old English 'metæl' and eventually modern English 'metal'. 'base' derived from Greek 'basis' passed into Late Latin and Old French before entering Middle English as 'base'; the past participle 'based' has been used in English compounds (X-based) in modern usage, leading to the compound 'metal-based'.

Initially the elements referred separately to 'metal' and to being 'based' on something; over time the compound came to specifically mean 'having metal as the basis or primary component'.