'adessive' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'adessivus', where 'ad-' meant 'at' and 'esse' meant 'to be'.

'adessivus' transformed into the Finnish term 'adessiivi', and eventually became the modern English term 'adessive'.

Initially, it meant 'to be at a place', but over time it evolved into its current meaning of 'a grammatical case indicating location'.