'vascular-nutritive' is a compound formed from 'vascular' and 'nutritive'. 'Vascular' originates from Latin, specifically the Late Latin word 'vasculāris' (from 'vasculum', diminutive of 'vas' meaning 'vessel'), and 'nutritive' originates from Latin 'nutritivus' (from 'nutrire' meaning 'to nourish').

'vascular' passed into English via Late Latin/French (e.g. French 'vasculaire') and became established in medical English in the 18th–19th centuries; 'nutritive' came into English from Latin via Old French (e.g. 'nutritif') in the 17th century. The hyphenated compound 'vascular-nutritive' developed in medical and scientific usage to describe tissue properties, becoming more common in the 19th–20th centuries.

Initially the two elements referred separately to 'relating to vessels' and 'providing nourishment'; combined, they came to denote specifically 'nourishment provided by the vascular (blood vessel) system' in clinical and anatomical contexts.