'azeotrope' originates from French, specifically the word 'azeotrope', formed from Greek elements: 'a-' meaning 'not', 'zeō' meaning 'to boil', and 'tropos' meaning 'turn' or 'change'.

'azeotrope' was coined in 19th-century French from the Greek components 'a-' + 'zeō' + 'tropos' and was adopted into English in the mid-19th century with the same technical meaning.

Initially, the parts meant 'not boiling-change' (i.e., no change on boiling); over time the term came to denote specifically a mixture whose vapor composition equals that of the liquid (a constant‑boiling mixture).