'anthroposophism' originates from Greek, specifically the words 'ánthrōpos' and 'sophía', where 'ánthrōpos' meant 'human' and 'sophía' meant 'wisdom'; the suffix '-ism' (via New Latin/Greek) meant 'doctrine, system, or practice'.

'anthroposophism' developed from the combination of Greek roots into terms used in scholarly and theological Latin and later German (notably 'Anthroposophie' and 'Anthroposophismus' in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, associated with Rudolf Steiner), and was adopted into modern English as 'anthroposophism'.

Initially the Greek roots referred simply to 'human wisdom' ('ánthrōpos' = human, 'sophía' = wisdom), but over time the compound and the '-ism' suffix came to denote the specific system of spiritual doctrine and movement now called 'anthroposophism'.