'tapered-nosed' originates from English, specifically the participial adjective 'tapered' (from the verb 'taper') combined with 'nose', where 'taper' meant 'to make or become gradually narrower' and 'nose' meant 'the projecting part of the face'.

'Taper' developed in Middle English from a verb meaning 'to become narrow' (compare Middle English forms such as 'taperen'), while 'nose' comes from Old English 'nosu'; in Modern English the past-participle adjective 'tapered' was compounded with 'nose' to form the descriptive compound 'tapered-nosed'.

Initially 'taper' referred to the action of narrowing; over time it has been used descriptively in compounds like 'tapered-nosed' to denote the resulting narrowed shape.