'animalculism' originates from English formation using 'animalcule' (from New Latin 'animalculum,' a diminutive of 'animal'), plus the suffix '-ism,' where '-culum' indicated a diminutive ‘little’ and 'animal' meant 'living being.'

'Animalculum' became English 'animalcule' in Early Modern English; from this, the derivative noun 'animalculism' arose to label doctrines concerning animalcules.

Initially, it denoted doctrines involving tiny animals—both spermist preformation and microbe-based explanations; today it survives chiefly as a historical term for those views.