'aposiopesis' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'aposiōpēsis', where 'apo-' meant 'away, off' and 'siōpē' meant 'silence'.

'aposiopesis' passed into Late Latin and Medieval Latin from Greek (as 'aposiōpēsis') and was later adopted into English in its modern form 'aposiopesis'.

Initially, it meant 'becoming silent' (a state of silence), but over time it evolved into the rhetorical sense 'a deliberate breaking off of speech to imply something unsaid'.