'azoxy' originates from the chemical combining of the elements 'azo' and 'oxy' — 'azo' ultimately from French 'azote' (via New Latin) referring to nitrogen, and 'oxy' from Greek 'oxys' meaning 'sharp' or used to denote oxygen/oxide.

'azoxy' arose in 19th-century chemical nomenclature as the contracted form of 'azo-oxy' or 'azo oxide' to name compounds containing an oxidized azo linkage; it entered modern English usage as the prefix and name for that class of compounds (e.g., 'azoxybenzene').

Initially coined to indicate an 'azo oxide' (an oxidized form of an azo linkage), the term came to denote both the specific >N(O)=N< functional group and the class of organic compounds containing that group.