'pH-regulated' is a compound formed from 'pH' and 'regulated'. 'pH' originates from the abbreviation introduced by Søren P.L. Sørensen in 1909, where 'p' was taken from German 'potenz' (power/potential) and 'H' is the chemical symbol for hydrogen. 'regulated' comes from the verb 'regulate' (from Latin roots).

'pH' was introduced in the early 20th century as an abbreviation related to 'potenz' (power/potential) of hydrogen; 'regulate' derives from Latin 'regula' (rule) via Medieval/Old French forms and Middle English, leading to modern English 'regulate' and the past/adj. 'regulated'. The compound 'pH-regulated' is a modern scientific formation combining the established abbreviation with the adjective 'regulated'.

The elements retained their technical meanings: 'pH' referred to hydrogen-ion potential and 'regulate' to controlling or adjusting. Together they evolved to describe processes or entities whose behavior is controlled by pH.