'autoproteolysis' originates from a modern scientific coinage combining Greek elements: specifically from Greek 'autos' meaning 'self', 'proteo-' (from Greek related to 'proteios' linked to 'protein' / 'primary'), and 'lysis' (Greek 'lysis') where 'lysis' meant 'loosening, dissolution'.

'autoproteolysis' was formed in biochemical usage by combining the older terms 'autolysis' (self-digestion) and 'proteolysis' (protein breakdown); both 'autolysis' and 'proteolysis' entered scientific English in the 19th–20th centuries and were later combined to name the specific process of self-cleavage of proteins.

Initially, related terms referred more broadly to 'self-decomposition' or general 'breakdown'; over time the coinage 'autoproteolysis' came to refer specifically to 'self-cleavage of proteins' (a narrower biochemical sense).