'autoimmunize' originates from a compound of Greek 'auto-' and Latin-derived 'immune' plus the verb-forming suffix '-ize'; 'auto-' meant 'self' (Greek 'autos') and 'immunis' meant 'exempt' (Latin).

'immune' entered English via Latin 'immunis' (through Medieval Latin); 'auto-' comes from Greek 'autos'. The compound 'autoimmune' arose in the 20th century in medical contexts, and the verb 'autoimmunize' was formed later by adding English '-ize' to describe inducing autoimmunity.

Initially, 'immunis' meant 'exempt' (from public duty); over time 'immune' shifted to the medical sense 'protected from disease'. 'Autoimmunize' originally described experimental induction of autoimmunity and has come to be used both for laboratory induction and to describe pathological autoimmune processes.