'anicca' originates from Pali, specifically the word 'anicca,' where 'a-' meant 'not' and 'nicca' meant 'constant; permanent'; it is cognate with Sanskrit 'anitya' ('a-' 'not' + 'nitya' 'eternal').

'anitya' in Sanskrit was reflected in Pali as 'anicca' and eventually became the modern English loanword 'anicca' through Buddhist studies and translations in the late 19th–20th centuries.

Initially, it meant 'not permanent,' and in English it retains the doctrinal sense of 'impermanence' with little change.