'autoxidation' originates from Modern English, formed by combining the prefix 'auto-' (from Greek 'autos', meaning 'self') with 'oxidation' (from New Latin 'oxidatio', related to 'oxide').

'oxidation' entered English from New Latin 'oxidatio' (via French 'oxydation'), originally referring to formation of oxides; 'auto-' is a Greek combining form that entered scientific English to mean 'self' or 'self-caused'. These elements were combined in scientific usage (19th–20th century) to make 'autoxidation'.

Initially connected to the idea of forming an oxide ('to form an oxide'), the term evolved in chemistry to refer specifically to spontaneous, often radical-mediated oxidation by molecular oxygen (not necessarily formation of a simple oxide).