'androgen-agonistic' originates from Modern English, formed by combining the noun 'androgen' and the adjective-forming element derived from 'agonist' ('agonistic'), where 'androgen' ultimately comes from Greek components meaning 'man' and 'producer' and 'agonistic' derives from 'agonist' meaning an activator in pharmacology.

'androgen' was coined in New Latin/modern scientific usage from Greek 'andr-' (man) + '-gen' (to produce), and 'agonist' came into English via Latin and French from Greek 'agonistes' (contestant); the adjective 'agonistic' and then the compound adjective 'androgen-agonistic' developed in 20th-century biomedical English to describe substances that activate androgen receptors.

Initially, 'agonist' meant 'contestant' in Greek and 'androgen' referred to 'male-producing' elements, but in modern pharmacology 'agonist' came to mean 'a substance that activates a receptor,' and combined with 'androgen' it now specifically denotes 'activating androgen receptor' activity.