'aphorize' originates from Modern English, specifically formed from the noun 'aphorism' with the productive verb-forming suffix '-ize', where the suffix '-ize' meant 'to make' or 'to render'.

'aphorism' came into English via Late Latin 'aphorismus' from Greek 'aphorismos' (meaning 'a definition' or 'concise statement'), ultimately from the Greek verb 'aphorizein' (to set apart, to define), where the prefix 'apo-' meant 'away' and 'horizein' meant 'to bound' (from 'horos', 'boundary'). Over time 'aphorism' entered English and the verb 'aphorize' was later formed by combining 'aphorism' + '-ize'.

Initially, the Greek root carried the sense 'to separate, to define (set a boundary)', but over time the descendant English forms came to focus on 'a concise, defining statement' and the verb evolved to mean 'to express in a concise, maxim-like form'.