'apraxia' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'apraxia', where 'a-' meant 'not' and 'praxis' meant 'action' or 'doing'.

'apraxia' changed from Greek 'apraxia' into New Latin/medical usage 'apraxia' and was adopted into modern English as 'apraxia'.

Initially it meant 'not acting' (absence of action), but over time it evolved into the medical sense 'inability to perform learned purposeful movements despite intact motor function'.