'atrophic' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'atrophia' where the prefix 'a-' meant 'not' and 'trophē' (from 'trophe') meant 'nourishment'.

'atrophic' came into English via Late Latin and Scientific Latin 'atrophia'/'atrophicus', through French/Latin medical usage, and developed into the modern English adjective 'atrophic'.

Initially it referred specifically to lack of nourishment causing wasting ('absence of nourishment'); over time it broadened to describe general wasting away or decline in biological tissues and, figuratively, decline of systems or functions.