'slender-fruited' originates from Modern English, formed by compounding the adjective 'slender' and the noun 'fruit' with the adjectival suffix '-ed' to describe a characteristic.

'slender' comes from Middle English 'slendre', influenced by Old Norse 'slendr' meaning 'slim'; 'fruit' comes from Old French 'fruit', from Latin 'fructus'. The compound arose in modern botanical English by straightforward compounding.

Initially the components referred separately to 'thin' and 'fruit'; over time the compound came to denote the botanical characteristic 'bearing thin or elongated fruits'.