'mortality-accepting' is a compound formed from 'mortality' and the present participle 'accepting'. 'Mortality' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'mortalitas' (from 'mortalis'), where 'mort-' meant 'death'. 'Accepting' derives from Latin 'accipere' (via Old French 'accepter'), where 'ad-' meant 'to' or 'toward' and 'capere' meant 'to take'.

'mortality' entered English via Old French 'mortalité' and Middle English as 'mortalté', while 'accept' came from Latin 'accipere' through Old French 'accepter' into Middle English; the modern compound 'mortality-accepting' is a recent English formation combining these two elements.

Individually, 'mortality' originally meant 'the state of being mortal' and 'accept' meant 'to receive or take'; combined as 'mortality-accepting' the phrase evolved to mean 'reconciling oneself to the inevitability of death' rather than merely the literal act of receiving mortality.