'romance-rejecting' originates from modern English by combining 'romance' and 'reject' with the adjectival suffix '-ing'. 'romance' entered English from Old French 'romanz' (originally referring to the vernacular 'Romance' languages), and 'reject' ultimately derives from Latin 'reicere' (from 're-' + 'iacere').

'romance' passed from Old French 'romanz' into Middle English as 'romance' (shifting from a sense of 'vernacular/romance language' and tales in that language to notions of love and chivalry). 'reject' comes from Latin 'reicere' which yielded Old French forms (e.g. 'rejeter') and later entered English as 'reject'. The compound 'romance-rejecting' is a modern English formation combining these elements.

Initially, 'romance' could denote the Romance languages or tales written in them and later evolved to mean 'romantic love' or 'romantic sentiment'; 'reject' originally meant 'to throw back' and shifted to 'to refuse'. Together in modern usage the compound has come to mean 'refusing romantic involvement'.