'narrative-resistant' is a compound formed from 'narrative' and 'resistant'. 'narrative' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'narrativus', where 'narrare' meant 'to tell'. 'resistant' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'resistere', where 're-' meant 'back/against' and 'sistere' (or 'stare') meant 'to stand or make stand'.

'narrative' came into English via Old French (narratif/narratifve) and Medieval Latin 'narrativus' from Latin 'narrare'; 'resistant' came into English via Old French/Latin influence from Latin 'resistere' and late Latin participial forms such as 'resistans', eventually forming the adjective 'resistant' in modern English. The compound 'narrative-resistant' is a modern English formation using a hyphen to join two established words.

Individually, 'narrative' originally referred to the act of telling or an account and has broadened to mean a structured story or interpretive framework; 'resistant' originally meant 'standing against' and has retained the sense of opposing or withstanding. Combined as 'narrative-resistant', the modern meaning is a recent, specialized sense: 'not easily shaped by or responsive to narrative'—a figurative extension rather than a historical single-term evolution.