'bacteriosolvent' originates from a modern scientific coinage combining Greek-derived 'bacterio-' (from Greek 'bakterion') and Latin-derived 'solvent' (from Latin 'solvere'), where 'bakterion' meant 'small staff' (used for 'bacteria') and 'solvere' meant 'to loosen, dissolve'.

'bacteriosolvent' is a compound formed in modern scientific English by joining the combining form 'bacterio-' (from New Latin/Greek usage referring to bacteria) with the noun 'solvent' (from Old French/Latin 'solvere' via Middle English), producing the descriptive term used in technical contexts.

Initially the elements meant 'bacteria' (bacterio-) and 'to loosen/dissolve' (solvere); in modern usage the compound denotes an agent that dissolves or lyses bacteria rather than a literal 'loosening' action.