'verso-only' is a compound of the English noun 'verso' and the adjective 'only'. 'verso' originates from Italian (via Latin), specifically the word 'verso' from Latin 'versus', where the root 'vers-' meant 'to turn'; 'only' originates from Old English, specifically the word 'āna', where 'āna' meant 'one, alone'.

'verso' entered English printing vocabulary via Medieval Latin and Italian to denote the back side or the left-hand page of a leaf; 'only' developed from Old English 'āna' to Middle English 'onlie' and then to modern English 'only'. The compound 'verso-only' is a modern English formation used in publishing to indicate exclusivity to the verso.

Initially, 'verso' meant 'turned' or 'the back/turned side', but in printing it came to mean specifically the left-hand page opposite the recto; 'only' retained the sense 'alone' or 'exclusively', so combined the meaning became 'appearing exclusively on the verso'.