'autoxidator' originates from Modern English, specifically formed from the Greek word 'autos' where 'auto-' meant 'self' and the Neo-Latin/Latin root 'oxid-' (related to 'oxygen') where 'oxid-' meant 'acid producer/oxygen-related', combined with the Latin suffix '-ator' meaning 'one who performs an action'.

'autoxidator' was coined in scientific English by combining the prefix 'auto-' + the noun 'oxidation' (from 'oxid-'/oxygen roots) + the agentive suffix '-ator', and eventually became the modern English technical term 'autoxidator'.

Initially it referred more broadly to things associated with autoxidation; over time it narrowed to mean specifically 'a substance that causes or promotes autoxidation'.