'amidogen' originates from the combination of 'amide' and the suffix '-gen', where 'amide' refers to a compound derived from ammonia and '-gen' means 'producing' or 'generating'.

'amidogen' was formed by combining the word 'amide' with the suffix '-gen' in the 19th century to describe a radical derived from ammonia.

Initially, it meant 'a radical derived from ammonia', and this meaning has largely remained the same in modern usage.