'teacher-led' originates from English, specifically a compound of 'teacher' and 'led', where 'teacher' comes from Old English 'tǣċere' meaning 'one who teaches' and 'led' is the past/past-participle form of 'lead' (Old English 'lǣdan') meaning 'to guide or bring'.

'teacher' developed from Old English 'tǣċere' (from the verb 'tǣċan' meaning 'to show, to teach'), and 'led' is the modern past form of 'lead', which comes from Old English 'lǣdan'; these elements combined in modern English as the compound adjective 'teacher-led'.

Initially it simply described something 'led or guided by a teacher'; over time it has remained essentially the same, used especially to contrast teacher-directed activities with student-led or self-directed ones.