'apocentricity' originates from Greek, specifically the prefix 'apo-' and the word 'kentron', where 'apo-' meant 'away from' and 'kentron' meant 'center'.

'apocentricity' is a modern English formation combining the Greek-derived prefix 'apo-' with the Latin/French-derived combining form 'centric(ity)' (from Medieval Latin/Old French influences), and entered English as a coined technical/abstract noun meaning the condition of being apocentric.

Initially it carried the literal sense 'away from the center' from its Greek elements, but over time it has been used more abstractly to mean 'the condition or quality of lacking a central focus' in scholarly or technical contexts.