'4-methoxybenzamide' originates from Modern chemical nomenclature, combining the locant '4-' (indicating the para position on a benzene ring), 'methoxy' (from 'methyl' + 'oxy', denoting an –OCH3 substituent), and 'benzamide' (the amide derivative of benzoic acid).

'benzamide' developed from New Latin related to 'benzoin' and 'benzoic' (early 19th century naming of benzene derivatives), with 'benzamide' coined as the amide form of benzoic acid; 'methoxy' emerged in 19th-century organic chemistry as a name for the –OCH3 group derived from 'methyl' + 'oxy'; numeric locant notation such as '4-' and the standardized IUPAC rules in the 20th century produced systematic names like '4-methoxybenzamide'.

Initially the component names referred to historical source names (e.g. 'benzoin' resins) and fragment names in early chemistry; over time these parts became standardized into systematic nomenclature so that '4-methoxybenzamide' now unambiguously denotes the specific molecular structure described above.