'ateleological' originates from Greek elements: the privative prefix 'a-' (meaning 'not') combined with 'teleologia' (from 'telos' meaning 'end, purpose' + 'logia' meaning 'study' or 'discourse').

'ateleological' developed by prefixing the Greek-derived negative 'a-' to the Modern English adjective 'teleological' (which itself comes from Latin/Greek 'teleologia' via Late Latin/Modern Latin), yielding the sense 'not teleological'.

Initially, related words like 'teleology' meant 'the study or explanation in terms of ends or purposes'; 'ateleological' has been used to indicate the absence of that teleological orientation and has retained that negative meaning.