'sex-drive' is a modern English compound formed from 'sex' and 'drive'. 'Sex' ultimately comes from Latin 'sexus' meaning 'gender/sexual activity', and 'drive' comes from Old English 'drīfan' (to drive), with the noun sense of an internal impulse influenced by later psychological usage.

'sex' entered English via Latin 'sexus' (and Old French influences) and kept the meaning related to gender and sexual activity. 'Drive' developed from Old English 'drīfan' (to drive) into a noun meaning 'force' or 'impulse'; the psychological sense of 'drive' (similar to German 'Trieb') became established in the 19th century, and the compound 'sex-drive' arose in the 19th–20th century to denote sexual impulse.

The components originally referred separately to 'gender/sexual activity' and 'a force or impulse'; combined, they came to mean specifically the internal sexual impulse or libido.