'vascular-cavernous' is a compound formed from 'vascular' + 'cavernous'. 'vascular' originates from Latin 'vasculum' (diminutive of 'vas') meaning 'vessel', and 'cavernous' originates from Latin 'cavernosus' (from 'caverna') meaning 'cave' or 'hollow'.

'vascular' came into English via Medieval/Scientific Latin 'vascularis' and the modern English 'vascular'; 'cavernous' passed from Latin 'caverna' into Old French 'caverne' and Middle English before becoming 'cavernous' in modern English. The compound usage (hyphenated) is a modern medical formation combining the two roots.

Initially, 'vascular' meant 'pertaining to vessels' and 'cavernous' meant 'having cavities (like caves)'; combined in medical contexts the compound came to mean 'having dilated, cave-like blood-filled vascular spaces' as a descriptor for certain lesions.