'balkanize' originates from the proper noun 'Balkan' (borrowed into English from Turkish 'Balkan'), where 'Balkan' meant 'a chain of wooded mountains', combined with the English verb-forming suffix '-ize'.

'Balkan' was adopted into English in the 19th century to name the mountain range and, by extension, the Balkan Peninsula. The verb 'balkanize' appeared in English in the late 19th to early 20th century to describe the political fragmentation of that region and was later generalized to mean fragmentation in other contexts.

Initially it referred specifically to breaking up the Balkan Peninsula into smaller states; over time it broadened metaphorically to mean dividing any area, organization, or system into smaller, often hostile or incompatible parts.