'whale-related' originates from English, formed from the noun 'whale' + the adjective-forming element 'related' (from 'relate'), where 'whale' comes from Old English 'hwæl' meaning 'whale' and 'related' derives from Latin-rooted 'relatus' via Old French and Middle English meaning 'brought back' or 'connected'.

'whale' changed from Old English 'hwæl' and developed into the Modern English 'whale'; 'related' evolved from Latin 'referre/relatus' through Old French (relater) and Middle English (relaten/related), and the compound 'whale-related' is a modern English formation combining these elements.

Initially the components each had their original senses ('hwæl' = the sea mammal; 'related' = connected), and over time the compound came to mean simply 'connected with whales' (no major semantic shift beyond compounding).