'3-hydroxyflavone' is a modern chemical name formed from the numeral '3' (indicating the substitution position), 'hydroxy' (from Greek elements 'hydro-' meaning 'water' and 'oxys' meaning 'sharp' or 'acid', used in chemistry to denote an –OH group), and 'flavone' (originating from Latin 'flavus' meaning 'yellow', used to name the flavone class).

'flavone' derived from Latin 'flavus' → used in 19th-century chemistry as 'flavone' to name the yellow pigment-related compounds; 'hydroxy' arose in 19th-century chemical nomenclature from Greek roots to denote hydroxyl substitution; the full systematic name '3-hydroxyflavone' was formed through modern organic nomenclature conventions in the 19th–20th century.

Originally 'flavus' simply meant 'yellow' (a color), but over time 'flavone' came to denote a specific class of plant-derived compounds; 'hydroxy' originally referenced 'water' or 'hydrogen/oxygen' roots and evolved in chemistry to specifically indicate an –OH functional group. The combined name now denotes the chemical structure (a flavone with an OH at position 3).