'O-alkylate' originates from modern English chemical nomenclature, specifically formed from the prefix 'O-' (denoting oxygen) and the verb 'alkylate', where 'alkyl' refers to an alkyl group (a hydrocarbon substituent) and '-ate' is a verbal/derivative suffix.

'alkylate' developed from 'alkyl' (a 19th-century chemical coinage ultimately related to 'alcohol' and the root for hydrocarbon substituents) plus the suffix '-ate'; the positional prefix 'O-' was later added in chemical literature to indicate substitution at oxygen, producing the modern term 'O-alkylate'.

Initially, related terms described forming or naming alkyl groups and derivatives; over time the combined form 'O-alkylate' came to be used specifically for the chemical action or product of introducing an alkyl group at an oxygen atom (O-alkylation).