'apsidal-motion-related' is a compound formed from 'apsidal' + 'motion' + 'related'. 'apsidal' ultimately comes from the noun 'apsis' (Greek), 'motion' from Latin 'motio' (from 'movere', to move), and 'related' from Latin 'relatus' (past participle of 'referre').

'apsis' originates from Greek ἁψίς (hapsís) meaning 'arch' or 'loop', passed into Medieval/Scientific Latin as 'apsis' and became English 'apsis' and then the adjective 'apsidal'. 'motion' passed from Latin 'motio' into Old French and Middle English as 'motion'. 'relatus' (Latin) became Old French/Anglo-Norman forms of 'relate' and then the English adjective 'related'. The modern compound 'apsidal-motion-related' is a recent technical formation in astronomical contexts.

The component 'apsis' originally referred to an arch or loop in Greek but in astronomical usage came to denote the extreme points of an orbit; 'motion' has long meant movement; 'related' originally meant 'brought back' (from Latin) and evolved to mean 'connected to'. Together they now mean 'connected with the precession or change of an orbit's apsides'.