'axiomatization' originates from Greek and New Latin elements: from Greek 'axioma' (ἀξίωμα), meaning 'that which is considered worthy or fit' or 'a proposition thought evident', combined with the verb-forming and nominalizing suffixes later rendered in English as '-ize' and '-ation'.

'axioma' (Greek) passed into Latin and Late Latin as 'axioma', then into English as 'axiom'. From this root, English formed the verb 'axiomatize' (attested in the formation of scientific and mathematical terminology) and then the noun 'axiomatization' by adding the suffix '-ation'.

Initially, the root meant 'something deemed worthy' or 'a self-evident proposition' (an axiom); over time it extended to denote both 'a set of such propositions' and the later action or process of 'expressing a theory in terms of axioms' (the modern sense of 'axiomatization').