'word-finding' originates from Modern English as a compound formed from 'word' + 'finding' (the present participle of the verb 'find'), used to denote the act or difficulty of locating words.

'word' comes from Old English 'word' (OE word) and 'find' from Old English 'findan'; the compound 'word-finding' is a modern English formation used especially in clinical and descriptive contexts to refer to lexical access or difficulties thereof.

Initially it could simply describe the act of finding words ('finding words'); over time, especially in medical and psychological contexts, it became commonly used to denote the difficulty or impairment in retrieving words ('difficulty retrieving words').