'nutrient-losing' is a compound of 'nutrient' and 'losing'; 'nutrient' originates from Latin, specifically the Neo-Latin 'nutriens' (from 'nutrire') meaning 'to nourish', and 'losing' is the present participle of 'lose', which originates from Old English 'lēosan'/'losian' meaning 'to perish, be deprived of'.

'nutrient' entered English in the 18th–19th century via Neo-Latin 'nutriens'; 'lose' developed from Old English 'lēosan' into modern 'lose'; the compound 'nutrient-losing' is a Modern English formation combining these elements to describe processes or things that result in loss of nutrients.

Individually, 'nutrient' originally referred to something that nourishes and 'lose' to becoming deprived or perishing; combined in Modern English, 'nutrient-losing' specifically denotes causing or undergoing the loss/depletion of nutrients.