'music-lover' originates from English, specifically the compound of 'music' and 'lover'; 'music' comes from Greek 'mousikē' where 'mousa' referred to the Muses and the arts, and 'lover' comes from Old English 'lufian' where 'luf-' meant 'to love'.

'music' changed from Greek 'mousikē' to Latin 'musica', then Old French 'musique' and Middle English 'musike', eventually becoming modern English 'music'. 'lover' developed from Old English forms such as 'lufere' (one who loves) to the modern noun 'lover'.

Initially, 'music' referred to the art associated with the Muses and 'lover' meant 'one who loves'; over time the compound 'music-lover' came to mean specifically 'a person who loves or greatly enjoys music'.