'tyrosinase-inhibiting' originates from combining the noun 'tyrosinase' (the enzyme name formed from 'tyrosine' + the enzyme suffix '-ase') and the present-participial/adjectival form of the verb 'inhibit'. 'Tyrosine' ultimately derives from Greek 'tyros' meaning 'cheese' (where the amino acid was first isolated), and the suffix '-ase' was coined in modern biochemical nomenclature to indicate enzymes.

'tyrosinase' was formed in modern biochemical New Latin by adding the enzyme-forming suffix '-ase' to 'tyrosine'; 'tyrosine' came from Greek 'tyros' > New Latin 'tyrosinum' > English 'tyrosine'. The verb 'inhibit' comes from Latin 'inhibēre' (through later Medieval/Modern Latin and Middle English), and the present-participial adjective 'inhibiting' is formed in English from that verb; the compound adjective 'tyrosinase-inhibiting' thus arose by combining these elements in modern scientific English.

Initially, the components referred generally to 'tyrosine' (an amino acid) and to 'hold back' (Latin 'inhibēre'); over time, in biomedical usage, the combined form came to mean specifically 'able to reduce or block the activity of the enzyme tyrosinase' (a narrower, biochemical sense).