'androgenize' originates from modern English formation based on the noun 'androgen' + the causative/verbal suffix '-ize', where the element 'andro-' comes from Greek 'anḗr/andrós' meaning 'man' and the element '-gen' (from Greek génēs) meant 'born of, producer'.

'androgen' entered English from Modern Latin/medical New Latin 'androgenes' (from Greek), and the verb 'androgenize' was formed in English by adding '-ize' to that noun, producing the modern verb 'androgenize' and its forms such as 'androgenizing'.

Initially the Greek-derived components referred to 'generating or producing male characteristics' and over time the English verb came to mean specifically 'to cause male characteristics to develop' or 'to administer male hormones.'