'azotemia' originates from New Latin/French 'azotémie', ultimately built from French 'azote' (meaning 'nitrogen') + Greek-derived suffix '-emia' from 'haima' meaning 'blood'.

'azote' was coined in French in the late 18th century (by Lavoisier) from Greek elements 'a-' (not) + 'zōē' (life) to mean a gas that does not support life; medical formation 'azotemia' appeared in 19th-century medical Latin/French as a term for nitrogen in the blood and entered modern English as 'azotemia' (British variant 'azotaemia').

Initially it referred simply to the presence of nitrogen or nitrogenous substances; over time it evolved into the clinical term denoting abnormally elevated nitrogenous waste (e.g., urea, creatinine) in the blood, usually due to renal dysfunction.