'autoindexing' originates from the Greek prefix 'auto-' (from Greek 'autós') meaning 'self' combined with 'indexing', derived from the English word 'index' which ultimately comes from Latin 'index'.

'index' comes from Latin 'index' (meaning 'someone who points out, sign, pointer'), passed into Old French as 'indice' and into Middle English as 'index'; in modern technical English it combined with the productive prefix 'auto-' to form 'autoindex' and the derived gerund/continuous form 'autoindexing'.

Initially the elements meant 'self' (auto-) and 'a pointer or sign' (index); over time the combined modern technical sense became 'the automatic creation or maintenance of an index'.