'pain-hypersensitive' is a compound of 'pain' and 'hypersensitive'. 'pain' originates from Old French 'peine', ultimately from Latin 'poena' meaning 'punishment' or 'suffering'. 'hypersensitive' combines the Greek prefix 'hyper-' meaning 'over' or 'excessive' with 'sensitive', from Latin 'sensitivus' (from 'sentire', 'to feel').

'pain' changed from Latin 'poena' → Old French 'peine' → Middle English 'peine' and eventually became modern English 'pain'. 'sensitive' comes from Late Latin 'sensitivus' via Old French and Middle English; the prefix 'hyper-' comes from Greek 'huper'. The compound form 'pain-hypersensitive' is a modern English formation combining these elements.

Initially, 'poena' meant 'punishment' and later broadened to physical 'suffering' and 'pain'; 'hyper-' originally meant 'over' or 'above' in Greek while 'sensitive' referred to the capacity to feel; together the compound now specifically means 'excessive sensitivity to pain'.