'articulant' originates from Latin, specifically from the root 'articul-' as in 'articulare' or 'articulus', where 'articulus' meant 'a small joint' or 'a division'.

'articulant' entered English via Late Latin and medieval usage related to 'articulare'/'articulatus' (to divide into joints or to utter clearly), and through scholarly/technical use in phonetics developed into the noun and adjective forms used in modern descriptions.

Initially associated with 'a joint' or 'the action of joining', the term's meaning expanded in linguistic and phonetic contexts to denote 'the act of producing speech sounds' or 'a speech segment'; the sense shifted from physical joining to 'forming distinct units' (including sounds).