'reverse-chronological' is a compound formed from 'reverse' and 'chronological'. 'Reverse' originates from Old French 'revers' (from Latin 'revertere'), where the prefix 're-' meant 'back' and 'vertere' meant 'to turn'. 'Chronological' derives from Greek 'khrónos' via Latin/Greek 'chronologia', where 'khrónos' meant 'time' and '-logia' meant 'study/speech'.

'reverse' changed from Latin 'revertere' into Old French 'revers' and then Middle English 'reverse'; 'chronology' came from Greek 'khrónos' + 'logía' into Latin/Medieval Latin 'chronologia', then Middle English 'chronologie' and modern English 'chronology', from which the adjective 'chronological' developed. The compound 'reverse-chronological' is a modern English formation combining these elements.

Initially, 'reverse' conveyed the idea of 'turning back' and 'chronological' related to ordering by time; together they evolved into the modern sense of 'ordered so the newest items come first.'