'apollonicon' originates from Greek, specifically the name 'Apollon' ('Ἀπόλλων'), where 'Apollon' referred to Apollo, the god of music; the English formation uses the suffix '-icon' to indicate an instrument or thing associated with that name.

'apollonicon' was coined in English in the 19th century as a name for large, elaborate self-playing organs (named after Apollo for his association with music) and became established in English usage to refer to such instruments.

Initially, the term primarily identified a particular large mechanical instrument named in honor of Apollo; over time it has been used more generally for similar large self-playing organs or orchestrions.