'autotype' originates from Greek, specifically the elements 'auto' and 'typos', where 'auto-' meant 'self' and 'typos' meant 'impression' or 'mark'.

'autotype' was coined in English in the 19th century to name a photographic printing process (often described in period sources as the 'autotype' or 'autotype process'); the term combined the Greek elements and the English word 'type' to denote a self-produced or true impression and became established in photographic and printing vocabulary.

Initially, it meant a particular photographic/photomechanical printing process or the prints produced by that process; over time the term has remained tied to that historical printing technique but is now also used more generally or historically (and sometimes as a trade name) for faithful photographic reproductions.