'basidiolichen' originates from modern scientific coinage, combining 'basidio-' from Neo-Latin 'basidium' (from Greek 'basidion'), where 'basidion' meant 'little base' or 'pedestal', and 'lichen' from Greek 'leikhē' via Latin 'lichen', meaning 'lichen'.

'basidiolichen' was formed in scientific usage in the 20th century by combining 'basidio-' (from 'basidium'/'basidion') and 'lichen'; 'basidium' itself derives from Greek 'basidion', while 'lichen' passed from Greek 'leikhē' into Latin 'lichen' and then English.

The component elements originally referred to the basidium ('little pedestal') and to lichens; since the term's introduction it has meant 'a lichen whose fungal partner is a basidiomycete' with little change in core meaning.