'apolytikion' originates from Greek, specifically the Medieval/Byzantine Greek word 'ἀπολυτίκιον' (apolytíkion), where the prefix 'ἀπό-' (apo-) meant 'away, from' and the root from 'λύω' (lyō) meant 'to loose, release' (relating to dismissal).

'apolytikion' comes from Byzantine Greek 'ἀπολυτίκιον', which in turn derives from Ancient Greek verbal roots; the term entered Church Slavonic and other liturgical languages and was later borrowed into English as a technical liturgical term 'apolytikion'.

Initially it referred broadly to a 'little dismissal' or 'dismissal-song' used at the end of a service; over time it came to denote the specific short troparion associated with the day or feast and is used as a technical liturgical term in modern usage.