'pain-causing' originates from English, specifically a compound of 'pain' and 'cause', where 'pain' ultimately comes from Latin 'poena' (via Old French) meaning 'punishment/suffering' and 'cause' comes from Latin 'causa' meaning 'reason' or 'cause'.

'pain' entered English via Old French 'peine' from Latin 'poena' meaning 'punishment' or 'penalty', later shifting to denote physical suffering; 'cause' comes from Latin 'causa' and Old French 'cause'. The modern compound 'pain-causing' is a straightforward English formation combining the two words.

Initially, 'pain' was associated with 'punishment' (from Latin 'poena'), but over time its sense shifted to 'physical or emotional suffering'; combined with 'cause', the compound now straightforwardly means 'that which produces pain'.