'ship-borne' originates from Modern English, composed of the noun 'ship' and the past-participle adjective 'borne' (from 'bear'), where 'ship' meant 'a seagoing vessel' and 'borne' meant 'carried'.

'borne' derives from Old English 'boren' (past participle of 'beran'/'bear'), itself from Proto-Germanic '*beraną'; 'ship' comes from Old English 'scip'. The compound 'ship-borne' developed in Modern English by combining these elements to describe things carried by ships.

Initially it meant 'carried by a ship' and over time has remained largely the same, used both literally (cargo) and attributively (ship-borne systems/equipment).