'species-centered' originates from Modern English, specifically combining the noun 'species' (from Latin 'species') and the past-participial adjective 'centered' (from 'center'), where 'species' originally meant 'appearance, kind' and 'center' meant 'middle' or 'point of focus'.

'species' entered English from Latin 'species' (via Old French and Middle English), while 'center' comes from Latin 'centrum' (via Old French/Latin into Middle English); the adjectival form 'centered' is formed by adding the past-participle suffix -ed and the compound 'species-centered' was coined in Modern English by combining these elements.

Initially the components meant 'kind/appearance' (species) and 'middle/point of focus' (center); together in the compound they have come to mean 'focused on a particular species' with little shift from the literal senses of the parts.