'alephzero' originates from Hebrew, specifically the word 'אֶלֶף' (aleph), where 'aleph' is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and 'zero' signifies the smallest infinite cardinal number.

'alephzero' was introduced in the late 19th century by mathematician Georg Cantor to describe the cardinality of infinite sets.

Initially, it meant 'the first infinite cardinal number,' and this meaning has remained consistent in modern mathematical usage.