'noise-generating' is a compound formed from 'noise' + the present participle of 'generate'. 'noise' originates from Old French, specifically the word 'noise', where it originally meant 'quarrel, disturbance'. 'generate' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'generare', where the root 'gener-' meant 'to beget, produce'.

'noise' entered Middle English as 'noyse' from Old French 'noise' and eventually became the modern English word 'noise'. 'generate' came into English via Old French/Latin: Latin 'generare' passed into Old French (e.g. 'generer') and then into Middle English as 'generate', with the present participle form developing as 'generating'.

Initially, 'noise' often referred to a disturbance or quarrel and later shifted to mean 'sound' (especially unpleasant sound). 'Generate' originally meant 'to beget' or 'to cause to exist' and evolved into the broader modern sense 'to produce' or 'to create'. Combined, the compound now means 'producing sound'.