'aurocyanide' originates from Neo-Latin, specifically the word 'aurocyanidum', where the prefix 'auro-' comes from Latin 'aurum' meaning 'gold' and 'cyanide' comes from the Modern/Neo-Latin chemical term derived from Greek 'kyanos' meaning 'dark blue'.

'aurocyanide' was formed in chemical nomenclature in the 19th century by combining Latin-derived 'auro-' (from 'aurum') with the then-established term 'cyanide' (from Neo-Latin/French usage); it became the English term used for gold–cyanide salts and complexes.

Initially, the term referred specifically to salts of gold with cyanide; over time it has been used more broadly for gold–cyanide coordination complexes and related compounds but retains the same core reference to gold combined with cyanide.