'autosomatognostic' originates from Greek, specifically the elements 'autos', 'soma', and 'gnosis', where 'autos' meant 'self', 'soma' meant 'body', and 'gnosis' meant 'knowledge'.

'autosomatognostic' was formed in modern medical English from the earlier noun 'autosomatognosia' (modeled on 'somatognosia' and other Neo-Latin medical formations). Those terms were built from Greek roots and incorporated into clinical/neurological usage in the late 19th to 20th centuries.

Initially the constituent roots literally meant 'self-body-knowledge'; over time the compound came to denote clinical concepts about awareness or misperception of one's own body (rather than a purely philosophical 'self-knowledge').