'Prakrit' originates from Sanskrit, specifically the word 'prākṛta', where 'prā-' conveyed a sense of 'before/forward' and 'kṛta' (from the root 'kṛ') related to 'made' or 'formed', yielding a basic sense of 'that which is natural/original'.

'Prakrit' changed from the Sanskrit word 'prākṛta' and through its use in Pali and various Middle Indo-Aryan languages came to denote the vernaculars of ancient and medieval India; the term entered English in the 19th century via philological and colonial scholarship.

Initially, in Sanskrit, it meant 'original' or 'natural', but over time it evolved into the linguistic sense of 'vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan language(s)' used in modern scholarship.