'autodial' originates from a combination of Greek and English elements: Greek 'autos' (αὐτός) where 'auto-' meant 'self', combined with English 'dial' (from Latin 'dialis') where 'dial' meant 'a disc or device with markings used for telling time or selecting numbers'.

'dial' changed from Old English/Medieval Latin forms such as 'diale'/'dialum' (originally related to sundials and the word for 'day') into the modern English 'dial'; in modern English the compound 'autodial' was formed by adding the prefix 'auto-' to 'dial' to denote self-acting dialing devices or actions.

Initially the elements literally suggested a 'self (auto) dial (disc/device)'; over time the compound came to mean the action or function of automatically placing telephone calls or the device that does so.