'sterol-related' originates from English compounding of 'sterol' and 'related', where 'sterol' is a chemical noun for steroid alcohols and 'related' comes from the verb 'relate' (meaning 'connected to').

'sterol' originally derived from chemical names such as 'sterine' or 'stearin' (from 19th-century chemical terminology), which in turn trace to French/Latin roots related to fats; '-ol' is the chemical suffix denoting an alcohol. 'Related' comes from Latin 'relatus', the past participle of 'referre', via Old French 'relater'.

Initially the root elements referred to fats or solid fats (from 'stear-' meaning tallow/fat), but over time 'sterol' came to denote a specific class of steroid alcohols; 'related' originally meant 'brought back' (from Latin) but evolved to mean 'connected' or 'associated' in modern English.