'scratch-resistant' originates from English, formed as a compound of 'scratch' + 'resistant', where 'scratch' comes from Middle English and is likely of imitative origin referring to scraping or scoring, and 'resistant' ultimately originates from Latin 'resistere', where 're-' meant 'back' and 'sistere' meant 'to stand'.

'resistant' passed from Latin 'resistere' into Old French (resister) and Middle English (resisten[t]) before becoming modern English 'resistant'; 'scratch' developed from Middle English (forms such as 'scratchen' or similar) into the modern English 'scratch', and the two were later combined into the compound 'scratch-resistant' in modern English.

Initially, elements meant 'to scrape' (scratch) and 'to stand back' or 'withstand' (resistere); over time 'resistant' came to mean 'able to withstand', and the compound evolved to mean 'able to withstand scratching' or 'not easily scratched'.