'structure-disrupting' is a compound formed from 'structure' and 'disrupting'. 'Structure' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'structura', where the root 'struere' meant 'to pile up, build'. 'Disrupting' (from 'disrupt') originates from Latin, specifically the verb 'disrumpere' (or 'disrumpĕre'), where the prefix 'dis-' meant 'apart' and 'rumpere' meant 'to break.'

'structure' passed from Latin 'structura' into Old French and Middle English as 'structure' and became the modern English word 'structure'. 'Disrumpere' entered Late Latin/Medieval Latin, yielding Old French/Latin-derived forms and later the Middle English/early modern English verb 'disrupt', from which 'disrupting' is formed. The compound 'structure-disrupting' is a modern English formation combining these two elements.

Initially, the elements meant 'to build/arrange' (structure) and 'to break apart' (disrupt). Over time they came to be used in modern English to describe both physical breaking of built forms and figurative breaking or destabilizing of systems; combined as 'structure-disrupting', the phrase now commonly means causing physical or organizational breakdown.