'autoincrement' originates from a combination of Greek and Latin elements: Greek 'auto-' meaning 'self' and Latin 'incrementum' meaning 'growth' or 'an increase'.

'increment' comes from Latin 'incrementum' (from 'increscere', to increase), which entered English as 'increment'. The technical coinage 'auto-increment' (later written 'autoincrement') was formed in computing to mean a value that increases by itself.

Initially, 'increment' meant 'a growth' or 'an increase'; in computing the compound 'auto-increment' came to mean 'to increase automatically (typically by fixed steps)', and 'autoincremented' denotes that this action has occurred.