'insect-like' originates from English, specifically a compound of the word 'insect' (ultimately from Latin 'insectum') and the adjectival suffix '-like' (from Old English '-līc'/'-lic'), where 'insect' originally related to 'insectum' and '-līc' meant 'having the form of'.

'insect' entered English from Latin 'insectum' (past participle of 'insecare', 'to cut into') via scholarly/Latin usage in early modern English; the suffix '-like' descends from Old English '-līc' (Proto-Germanic '*līkaz') meaning 'body, form', and the modern compound 'insect-like' formed by productive compounding in English to mean 'resembling an insect'.

Initially, the Latin root referred to 'cut into' (reflecting segmented bodies) and the suffix '-līc' meant 'having the form of'; together in modern English they evolved into the present sense 'resembling an insect'.