'oxygen-pervious' is a modern English compound formed from 'oxygen' and 'pervious'. 'oxygen' originates from French, specifically the word 'oxygène', where Greek 'oxys' meant 'sharp' (or 'acid') and '-gen' meant 'producer'. 'pervious' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'pervius', where 'per-' meant 'through' and 'via' meant 'way'.

'pervious' changed from Latin 'pervius' into Middle English forms such as 'pervȳous'/'pervous' and eventually became modern English 'pervious'. 'oxygen' was coined in modern scientific French ('oxygène') in the late 18th century and entered English as 'oxygen', after which compounding with adjectives like 'pervious' produced descriptive compounds such as 'oxygen-pervious'.

Initially, 'pervious' meant 'passable' or 'able to be gone through', a meaning that has largely remained ('allowing passage'). 'oxygen' was originally named as an 'acid-producer' in etymological sense but came to mean the chemical element; together the compound now specifically means 'allowing oxygen to pass through'.