'object-focused' is a modern English compound formed from 'object' + 'focused'. 'object' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'objectum', where 'ob-' meant 'toward' and 'jacere' (via variant forms) meant 'to throw/put'; 'focused' comes from Latin 'focus' (via scientific/late Latin and modern English), where 'focus' originally meant 'hearth' and later came to mean a point of attention.

'object' reached English through Old French 'objet' and Middle English 'object', adapting from Latin 'objectum'; 'focus' entered English in the 17th century from Latin 'focus' (hearth), with the sense 'point of attention' developing later, and 'focused' as the past participle/past-tense adjective formed in modern English. The compound 'object-focused' is a recent formation combining these elements to describe attention directed at objects.

Initially 'object' referred to something 'thrown before' or 'presented' (from Latin sense) and 'focus' referred to a 'hearth' (then a 'point of convergence'); over time these evolved so that 'object' now commonly means 'thing' or 'item' and 'focus' means 'point of attention', and together the compound means 'having attention or emphasis on objects'.