'bacteriolytic' originates from modern scientific coinage using Neo-Latin/Greek elements: specifically the prefix 'bacterio-' (from Neo-Latin 'bacterium', ultimately from Greek 'bakterion') and the suffix '-lytic' (from Greek 'lytikos' / root 'lyein').

'bacteriolytic' was formed in scientific English by combining 'bacterio-' (from 'bacterium', a 19th-century Neo-Latin term derived from Greek 'bakterion', 'small rod') and '-lytic' (from Greek 'lysis'/'lytikos' meaning 'to loosen, dissolve'); the compound arose in late 19th/early 20th-century biomedical usage and has been used in bacteriology and biochemistry since.

Initially, it meant 'causing lysis of bacteria' in technical contexts, and over time it has retained that specific sense of 'able to lyse or dissolve bacterial cells' in modern scientific usage.