'anolyte' originates from modern formation combining 'anode' (from Greek 'anodos') and the suffix '-lyte' (related to Greek 'lyein' / 'lysis' meaning 'to loosen' or 'dissolve'), where 'ano-' meant 'up' or 'upward' and '-lyte' relates to a substance in solution or resulting from dissolution.

'anolyte' is a relatively modern chemical coinage formed in the context of electrochemistry by combining the 19th-century term 'anode' with the suffix '-lyte' (as in 'electrolyte'), and it entered technical usage to denote the solution associated with the anode.

Initially coined to denote simply the solution near or produced at an anode, the term has come to be used more broadly for any anodic (oxidizing) electrolyte in electrochemical processes.