'cation' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'kation', where 'kata-' meant 'down' and 'ienai' (from 'ienai/ienai' root) meant 'to go' (used in the sense of movement).

'cation' was coined in modern scientific usage (19th century) from Greek elements and entered New Latin/modern scientific vocabulary; from 'cation' came the adjective 'cationic' and then the adverbial form 'cationically'.

Initially it referred to the idea of 'moving downward' (from Greek components), but over time it came to denote a 'positively charged ion' and thereby adjectives/adverbs referring to that quality (e.g., 'cationic', 'cationically').