'near-ground' originates from Modern English, formed from the words 'near' and 'ground', where 'near' derives from Old English 'nēah' (or 'neah') meaning 'close' and 'ground' derives from Old English 'grund' meaning 'surface of the earth'.

'near-ground' developed from the phrase 'near the ground' in Middle English and later became used as a hyphenated compound in modern English.

Initially, it meant 'close to the ground', and over time the meaning has remained largely the same, used to describe position or phenomena close to the ground surface.