'autocopist' originates from Greek and Old French/Latin, specifically the Greek element 'autos' where 'autos' meant 'self', and the Old French word 'copie' (from Latin 'copia') where 'copie'/'copia' meant 'a copy' or 'abundance'.

'autocopist' was formed in modern English by combining the prefix 'auto-' with the word 'copyist' (itself from Old French 'copie' and Latin 'copia'), and emerged as a compound term in modern usage alongside copying technologies in the 19th–20th centuries.

Initially, elements meant 'self' and 'copy' and the compound would imply 'one who copies (by oneself)'; over time it has come to denote specifically an automatic copying device or a person operating automatic copying methods.