'apocatastasis' originates from Ancient Greek, specifically the word 'ἀποκατάστασις' (apokatastasis), where the prefix 'apo-' meant 'away/from' and the root 'katastasis' meant 'a placing, standing, or restoration'.

'apocatastasis' passed into Late Latin and Medieval Latin as 'apocatastasis' and was adopted into theological and scholarly English usage from Latin; the term has been used in English theological literature since at least the early modern period.

Initially in Greek it meant 'a restoration or re-establishment' (a placing back), but over time it became specialized in Christian theology to denote the doctrine of universal restoration or reconciliation of all things; it can still be used more generally to mean 'return to an original state'.