'plastic-made' is a modern English compound formed from the noun 'plastic' and the past-participial adjective 'made'. 'plastic' entered English in the 19th century (from Greek via Latin/French) meaning 'able to be molded', while 'made' is the past participle of 'make'.

'plastic' comes from Greek 'plastikos' (through Latin/French forms) meaning 'fit for molding'; 'made' derives from Old English/Germanic sources as the past participle of 'make' (Old English 'macian'/'macode' developments). The compound 'plastic-made' arose by straightforward compounding in modern English to describe things manufactured from plastic.

Initially, 'plastic' referred to the property of being moldable; over time it also came to denote materials (synthetic polymers) made for molding, and 'plastic-made' developed to mean 'manufactured from plastic' rather than referring to the molding property.