'GSR' originates from English, specifically the phrase 'gunshot residue,' where 'gunshot' referred to the discharge of a firearm and 'residue' referred to remaining particles.

'GSR' formed as an initialism in 20th-century forensic and policing contexts to abbreviate 'gunshot residue' and became standard terminology in forensic reports and literature.

Initially it referred specifically to visible or easily detected residues from gunshots; over time the term expanded to include microscopic primer, propellant and metal particles analyzed by modern forensic techniques.