'austric' originates from combining the prefix 'Austro-' (ultimately from Latin 'Auster', meaning 'south') and the adjectival suffix '-ic' (from Greek '-ikos', meaning 'pertaining to'), coined in English by linguists to label the proposed language grouping.

'austric' was coined in English in the 20th century as a scholarly term formed from 'Austro-' (from names like 'Austroasiatic') plus '-ic'; it was used to name the proposed macro-family that links 'Austroasiatic' and 'Austronesian' and later also used as a noun ('an austric') to mean a language of that hypothetical family.

Initially the components conveyed 'southern' + 'pertaining to', but the combined modern usage became specialized to mean 'relating to the proposed Austric language family or hypothesis'.