'relief-copying' is a compound of 'relief' and 'copying'. 'Relief' originates from Old French (from Medieval Latin) specifically the word 'relevare', where 're-' meant 'again' or 'back' and 'levare' meant 'to raise'. 'Copying' originates from Old French 'copie', from Latin 'copia', where 'copia' meant 'abundance' and by extension 'a copy'.

'relief' passed into Middle English from Old French/Latin with the sense of 'raising' or 'a raised part'; 'copy' passed from Old French 'copie' into Middle English 'copie' and developed the modern sense of 'reproduction'. Combined as a compound in English, 'relief-copying' describes the technique of reproducing images via a raised surface.

Initially, the components meant 'to raise' (relief) and 'a copy/abundance' (copy); over time they came together to denote the specific printing technique of transferring ink from a raised surface, now expressed as 'relief-copying'.