'oxygen-tight' is a compound of 'oxygen' and 'tight.' 'oxygen' originates from French 'oxygène' (coined in the 18th century), from Greek roots 'oxys' meaning 'sharp/acid' and 'genes' meaning 'producer.' 'tight' originates from Old English (for example 'tīeht'/'tyht') from Proto-Germanic roots meaning 'close, secure.'

'oxygen' was coined in modern scientific French ('oxygène') in the late 18th century (Antoine Lavoisier) and entered English as 'oxygen.' 'tight' derives from Old English forms and evolved into the modern adjective 'tight.' The compound 'oxygen-tight' developed in technical contexts in the 19th–20th centuries to describe seals and containers that prevent oxygen entry.

Initially, 'oxygen' as a term referred (from its Greek roots) to an 'acid producer' in early chemistry but came to mean the chemical element 'oxygen.' 'tight' originally meant 'fastened or secure.' Together as 'oxygen-tight' the meaning became the specific technical sense 'impermeable to oxygen.'