'autosuggestion' is a compound formed from Greek 'autos' meaning 'self' and Latin 'suggestio' (via French), where 'autos' meant 'self' and 'suggestio' meant 'a presenting or proposing'.

'autosuggestion' was popularized in French and scientific writing in the late 19th to early 20th century (notably by Émile Coué), and the modern English term developed directly from French 'autosuggestion'.

Initially coined to describe the general idea of a suggestion directed at oneself, the term retained that core sense but was later extended to technical contexts (e.g., computing) to mean automatically offered suggestions.