'recurrent-flowering' originates from English, formed by the adjective 'recurrent' and the present participle 'flowering'. 'recurrent' ultimately comes from Latin 'recurrens' (present participle of 'recurrere'), where the prefix 're-' meant 'again' and 'currere' meant 'to run'; 'flowering' derives from Old English and Middle English words for 'flower' (related to Proto-Germanic '*blōmô') meaning 'blossom'.

'recurrent' changed from Latin 'recurrens' via Medieval/Latin and Middle English forms into the modern English adjective 'recurrent', and 'flowering' comes from Middle English 'flour/flower' plus the -ing participle; the modern hyphenated compound 'recurrent-flowering' emerged in horticultural English to describe plants that bloom repeatedly.

Initially, 'recurrent' meant 'running back' (literally returning) and 'flowering' meant 'to bloom'; over time the compound came to mean 'blooming repeatedly' in the horticultural sense.