'acetylbenzoic' originates from 'International Scientific Vocabulary', specifically the combination of 'acetyl' and 'benzoic', where 'acetyl' refers to the acetyl group and 'benzoic' refers to benzoic acid.

'acetylbenzoic' was formed by combining the terms 'acetyl' and 'benzoic' to describe a compound with both an acetyl group and a benzoic acid structure.

Initially, it referred to any compound with an acetyl group and benzoic acid structure, and this meaning has remained consistent.