'azoxyanisole' originates from modern chemical naming combining 'azoxy' and 'anisole'; 'azoxy' is built from 'azo' (from French 'azote', ultimately Greek 'azōtos' meaning 'without life' used for nitrogen) plus the element 'oxy' indicating an oxygen-containing derivative, and 'anisole' comes from French 'anisole' (from Latin 'anisum' meaning 'anise').

'azoxy' developed in 19th–20th century chemical nomenclature as an extension of 'azo' to denote N=N(O)-type functionalities, while 'anisole' entered English from French 'anisole' (from Latin 'anisum'); combining these parts produced the compound name 'azoxyanisole' in modern chemical literature.

Initially the component parts referred separately to an 'azo/azoxy' nitrogen functional group and to 'anisole' (methoxybenzene), but over time the combined term came to denote the specific compound 'azoxyanisole' (not just its parts).