'atrabile' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'atrābilis' or 'atrabilis', where 'atra' meant 'black' and 'bilis' meant 'bile'.

'atrabile' came into English via Medieval Latin (atrabilis/atrabile) and Middle French influence; the Latin 'atrabilis' (a compound of 'atra' + 'bilis') led to Late Latin/Medieval Latin forms that entered English-medieval scholarly and literary usage.

Initially, it referred literally to 'black bile' as a bodily humour; over time it also came to denote the resulting melancholic temperament or mood, and in modern English it survives chiefly in literary or archaic contexts meaning 'melancholy'.