'ring-opening' originates from English, specifically the compound of 'ring' and 'opening', where 'ring' meant 'a circular band or loop' and 'opening' meant 'the act of making open'.

'ring' comes from Old English 'hring' meaning 'circle, ring', while 'open' comes from Old English 'openian' (from 'open') with the gerund/participle suffix '-ing'; the modern hyphenated compound 'ring-opening' developed in technical writing (especially chemistry) to describe the act of opening a ring structure.

Initially it referred to the literal act of making an opening in a ring or loop; over time it acquired a specialized technical meaning in chemistry referring to cleavage of a cyclic molecular structure.