'nut-scented' is a modern English compound formed from 'nut' + 'scented' (the past-participle adjective of the verb 'scent'). 'nut' originates from Old English 'hnutu' (from Proto-Germanic '*hnut-'), where the root meant 'nut'. 'scent' (verb/noun) originates from Old French 'sentir' (from Latin 'sentire'), where the root meant 'to perceive' (especially by smell).

The element 'nut' changed from Old English 'hnutu' (and earlier Proto-Germanic '*hnut-') into Middle and Modern English 'nut'. 'scented' developed as the past-participle/adjective from Middle English 'scenten'/'scented', borrowed from Old French 'sentir' and ultimately from Latin 'sentire'; the compound 'nut-scented' was formed in Modern English by combining these elements to describe something that has the smell of nuts.

Originally Latin 'sentire' meant 'to perceive' (in a general sense); over time the related Old French and Middle English forms specialized toward perception by smell, and the adjective 'scented' came to mean 'having a smell'; the compound 'nut-scented' therefore evolved to mean 'having the scent of nuts'.