'4-AP' originates from English, specifically an abbreviation of '4-aminopyridine', where '4-' indicates the substituent position on the pyridine ring and 'amino' denotes an –NH2 group attached to the ring.

'4-aminopyridine' in turn comes from 'aminopyridine' (an amino-substituted 'pyridine'), and 'pyridine' was adopted into chemistry from Medieval Latin 'pyridinum', ultimately from Greek 'pyr' meaning 'fire' (a historical reference to its origin in coal-tar distillation).

Initially the elements of the name referred to the chemical structure and origin (a pyridine-related compound associated historically with coal tar); over time the term became a specific chemical name and is now used as an abbreviation ('4-AP') for that compound and its clinical formulations.