'apomorphin' originates from Greek elements 'apo-' and 'morphe' and by analogy to 'morphine', where 'apo-' meant 'away from' and 'morphe' meant 'form'.

'apomorphin' was coined in the 19th century as the name for a compound produced by chemically modifying 'morphine'; the modern English chemical name appears as 'apomorphine' (the form 'apomorphin' is a variant/spelling seen in some languages and older texts).

Initially it referred simply to a morphine-derived chemical (literally 'away from the form of morphine'); over time it became the established name of a specific pharmacological agent now used as a dopamine agonist.