'nerve-proximal' originates from the combination of 'nerve' and 'proximal', where 'nerve' refers to a bundle of fibers transmitting impulses and 'proximal' means 'near' or 'close to'.

'nerve' comes from the Latin word 'nervus', and 'proximal' is derived from the Latin 'proximus', meaning 'nearest'.

Initially, 'proximal' meant 'nearest' in a general sense, but in medical terminology, it evolved to mean 'near a specific point of reference', such as a nerve.