'baptisia' originates from New Latin, specifically the word 'Baptisia', where the Greek root 'bapto / bapt-' meant 'to dip' or 'to dye'.

'baptisia' derives ultimately from Ancient Greek (e.g. 'baptizein'/'bapto') and was adopted into New Latin botanical usage as 'Baptisia' before entering modern English as the genus name 'baptisia'.

Initially related to the action 'to dip' or 'to dye', the term later became attached as the name of a plant genus (now meaning 'the false indigo plants').