'biosynthetic' originates from Greek and New Latin components, specifically the Greek roots 'bios' and 'synthesis', where 'bios' meant 'life' and 'synthesis' meant 'putting together'.

'biosynthetic' was formed in modern scientific English by combining the prefix 'bio-' (from Greek 'bios') with the adjective 'synthetic' (from Greek 'synthesis' via Latin/French), becoming used in technical contexts in the 19th–20th centuries.

Initially used to describe processes or products of biosynthesis, it has come to mean more broadly 'produced by or relating to biosynthesis' in modern scientific usage.