'nicotine-containing' originates from Modern English as a compound of 'nicotine' and the present-participle adjective-forming element 'containing'. 'Nicotine' ultimately comes from French 'nicotine', named after the 16th-century French diplomat Jean Nicot; 'contain' ultimately comes from Latin 'continēre', where 'con-' meant 'together' and 'tenēre' meant 'to hold'.

'nicotine' entered English from French 'nicotine' (from the name Nicot), and 'contain' came into English via Old French 'contenir' from Latin 'continēre'; the compound 'nicotine-containing' is a straightforward modern English formation joining the noun and participle to form an adjective.

Initially 'nicotine' referred to the alkaloid named after Jean Nicot, and 'contain' originally meant 'to hold together'; the compound has the direct, literal modern meaning 'having nicotine inside' with little semantic shift.