'azodicarboxylic' is formed by combining the prefix 'azo-' (from French 'azote', ultimately from Greek elements meaning 'not' + 'life', used in chemistry to denote nitrogen- or N=N-related groups), the Greek prefix 'di-' meaning 'two', and 'carboxylic' (from 'carboxyl', itself from 'carbon' + 'oxyl', referring to the carboxyl functional group).

'azo-' entered chemical nomenclature in the 19th century via French 'azote' for nitrogen; 'carboxyl' and 'carboxylic' were coined in 19th-century chemical literature from 'carbon' + elements referring to oxygen-containing radicals; modern systematic chemical naming combined these elements to produce the adjectival form 'azodicarboxylic' for describing molecules with an azo linkage and two carboxyl groups.

Originally the component parts named separate concept elements ('azo' = N=N linkage, 'di-' = two, 'carboxylic' = bearing carboxyl groups); over time they fused into a single technical adjective meaning 'containing an azo linkage and two carboxylic groups'.