'sodium-resistant' originates from Modern English, formed from the noun 'sodium' and the adjective 'resistant'. 'sodium' itself originates from New Latin 'sodium', ultimately coined from 'soda' (Medieval Latin/vernacular), where 'soda' meant 'soda, sodium carbonate'; 'resistant' comes from Latin 'resistere', where the prefix 're-' meant 'back' and 'sistere' (from sistere/stit-) meant 'to stand'.

'sodium' was coined in New Latin in the early 19th century (from 'soda' used for sodium compounds) and entered scientific English as the element name; 'resistere' passed into Old French (resister) and Middle English as 'resist', with the adjective form 'resistant' developing in Modern English; the compound 'sodium-resistant' is a modern English formation combining the element name and the adjective.

Initially, the components referred separately to the chemical 'sodium' and the action 'to resist'; together they originally meant 'resisting sodium' in a literal sense; over time the compound has come to be used as a technical descriptor meaning 'tolerant of sodium or saline conditions' in biology, materials science, and agronomy.