'oxide-bearing' originates from modern English, formed as a compound of 'oxide' (from French 'oxyde' / New Latin 'oxydum') and the present-participle 'bearing' (from Old English 'beran'), where 'oxide' referred to an oxygen-containing compound and 'bearing' meant 'carrying/containing'.

'oxide' came into scientific English via French 'oxyde' (ultimately from Greek 'oxys' meaning 'acid, sharp') and New Latin 'oxydum'; 'bearing' derives from Old English 'beran' meaning 'to carry'. The compound 'oxide-bearing' developed in 19th-century technical English usage to describe rocks, ores, or materials that contain oxides.

Initially the components meant 'carrying an oxide' in a literal sense; over time the compound became a standard technical descriptor meaning 'containing oxide minerals or oxide compounds' in geology and materials science.