'bacteriolysis' originates from Modern/Neo-Latin and Greek elements, specifically from 'bacterium' (from Greek 'bakterion') combined with Greek 'lysis', where 'bakterion' meant 'small staff' and 'lysis' meant 'loosening' or 'dissolution'.

'bacteriolysis' was formed by combining the Modern Latin/Neo-Latin element 'bacterio-' (from 'bacterium', ultimately Greek 'bakterion') with Greek 'lysis'; this scientific formation entered English usage as a technical term for bacterial dissolution in the 19th–20th century.

Initially 'lysis' meant 'loosening' or 'dissolution' in Greek, and when combined with 'bacterio-' it came to denote specifically the breaking down or destruction of bacteria; this specialized meaning has been retained in scientific usage.