'animalise' originates from French, specifically the verb 'animaliser,' where 'animal' (from Latin 'animal' < 'anima') meant 'living being' and the suffix '-ise' (from Greek '-izein') meant 'to make or render.'

'animalising' changed from the French verb 'animaliser' and eventually became the modern English form 'animalising' (BrE), alongside the American English form 'animalizing'.

Initially, it meant 'to make something animal or bestial'; later it also developed a biological sense 'to convert into animal tissue,' and these senses remain in modern usage.