'apepsia' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'apepsia' (ἀπέψια), where the prefix 'a-' meant 'not' and 'pepsis' meant 'digestion'.

'apepsia' entered medical usage via New Latin 'apepsia' from Greek and was adopted into English in medical contexts, retaining its Greek-derived form 'apepsia'.

Initially, it meant 'absence or failure of digestion', and over time it has been used to mean 'indigestion' or broadly 'impaired digestion' in clinical or older texts.