'mood-lifting' originates from Modern English, specifically the compound of 'mood' + 'lift', where 'mood' meant a person's emotional state and 'lift' meant to raise or elevate.

'mood' comes from Old English 'mōd' meaning 'mind, spirit, courage', and 'lift' comes from Old English 'lyftan' (to raise); the compound expression formed in Modern English by combining these elements to describe something that raises the 'mood'.

Initially, 'mood' referred broadly to mind or spirit and 'lift' to physical raising; over time the compound came to be used figuratively to mean 'to raise someone's emotional state' (i.e., 'mood-lifting').