'avolition' originates from the negative prefix 'a-' (used in Modern English formations, ultimately from Latin/Greek privative forms meaning 'not' or 'without') combined with 'volition', where 'volition' derives from Latin 'volitionem' (from 'velle' meaning 'to will').

'avolition' was formed in modern English by adding the privative prefix 'a-' to 'volition' (which passed into English from Latin via Old French/Middle English forms such as 'volition'), resulting in a word meaning 'absence of volition'.

Initially coined to denote the 'absence of volition' (literally 'without volition'), it has come to be used specifically in psychiatry to denote a clinically significant lack of motivation or ability to initiate goal-directed behavior.