'water-lovingness' originates from Modern English, specifically a compound of the noun 'water' + the adjective 'loving' plus the suffix '-ness' to form a noun meaning 'the state or quality of being water-loving'.

'water' comes from Old English 'wæter'; 'love' comes from Old English 'lufian' (to love), with the present participle 'loving'; the suffix '-ness' is from Old English '-nes(s)e' used to form abstract nouns. These elements were combined in Modern English to form 'water-lovingness'.

Initially the components simply denoted 'water' + 'loving'; over time the compounded noun came to be used to denote the abstract quality or tendency (similar to 'hydrophilicity'), with little change in the basic literal meaning.