'oxygen-starved' originates from a Modern English compound of 'oxygen' and 'starved'. 'oxygen' ultimately comes from French 'oxygène' (coined in the 18th century from Greek 'oxys' meaning 'sharp' and '-genes' meaning 'producer'), and 'starved' is the past participle of Old English 'steorfan'.

'oxygen' was coined in French as 'oxygène' and then adopted into English as 'oxygen' in the late 18th century; 'starved' developed from Old English 'steorfan' → Middle English 'starven' → Modern English 'starve' (past participle 'starved'), and the compound formed by combining the two words produced the modern adjective 'oxygen-starved'.

When coined, 'oxygen' literally meant 'acid-producer' in the sense of chemical theory, but the term's meaning shifted to denote the chemical element; 'starved' originally could mean 'to die' and later 'to suffer from lack (especially of food)'; in the compound 'oxygen-starved' the sense evolved to mean 'suffering from a lack of oxygen'.