'wood-borer' originates from Modern English, specifically the compound of 'wood' and 'borer'; 'wood' comes from Old English 'wudu' meaning 'wood, forest', and 'borer' comes from the verb 'bore' (Old English 'borian') plus the agentive suffix '-er', where 'borian' meant 'to bore, pierce'.

'borer' changed from Old English 'borian' to Middle English 'bore' and then to the agentive noun 'borer', and in Modern English it combined with 'wood' to form the compound 'wood-borer'.

Initially, it meant 'one that bores (pierces) wood' based on its component parts, and this meaning has largely remained the same in modern usage as 'an organism that bores into wood'.