'small-billed' originates from English, specifically the words 'small' and 'bill', where 'small' meant 'of little size' and 'bill' meant 'beak'.

'small' comes from Old English 'smæl' (meaning 'small, narrow') and 'bill' comes from Old English 'bile' (meaning 'beak'); the adjectival compound 'small-billed' developed in Modern English by combining these elements (often joined with a hyphen) to describe animals with a relatively small bill.

Initially the elements referred separately to 'small' and 'beak'; combined as 'small-billed' the meaning — 'having a small bill' — has been a straightforward descriptive compound and has remained stable.