'netlike-veined' originates as a modern compound of 'netlike' and 'veined'. 'netlike' itself is from Old English elements 'net' (Old English 'net(t)'), where 'net' meant 'a mesh', plus the adjectival suffix 'like' (Old English 'līc') meaning 'similar'. 'veined' derives from Latin 'vena' via Old French 'veine' and Middle English 'vein', where 'vena' meant 'vein, blood-vessel'.

'net' remained Old English 'net' into Middle English; 'vena' became Old French 'veine' and then Middle English 'vein', which formed the past-participial adjective 'veined'. The combination of 'netlike' + 'veined' produced the descriptive compound 'netlike-veined' in modern botanical English.

Initially the components meant 'mesh/net' (for 'net') and 'vein/blood-vessel' (for 'vena'); over time the compound came to mean specifically 'having veins forming a mesh', a botanical description of leaf venation.