'volume-overloaded' is a modern English compound formed from 'volume' + 'overload', where 'volume' refers to amount or loudness and 'overload' means to load too much.

'volume' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'volumen', where 'volvere' meant 'to roll' and later came to mean 'a roll, book' and then 'amount/measure'; 'overload' is formed from Old English elements 'ofer' (over) + 'hlād' (load) meaning 'to place too great a load', and the compound 'volume-overload' is a contemporary extension combining the two senses.

Initially, 'overload' meant 'to place too great a load' in a literal sense; over time it extended figuratively to mean 'to exceed capacity' in contexts such as electrical, cognitive, data, and audio. 'Volume' originally referred to a rolled object/book and later to measurable quantity and loudness; combined, the compound came to mean 'excessive loudness or quantity that exceeds capacity.'