'clinopyroxene' originates from Greek-derived elements: the prefix 'clino-' (from Greek 'klinein') and 'pyroxene' (from Greek 'pyroxenos'), where 'klinein' meant 'to lean or slope' (referring to the monoclinic/oblique crystal habit) and 'pyro-' meant 'fire' while 'xenos' meant 'stranger' (the older term 'pyroxene' was coined for minerals altered by heating).

'clinopyroxene' formed in mineralogical usage in the 19th century by prefixing 'clino-' to the existing term 'pyroxene' (French scientific form 'pyroxène') to distinguish monoclinic pyroxenes from orthopyroxenes; it became established in modern geological literature as the standard name for this subgroup.

Initially the related root referred broadly to pyroxene minerals noted for reactions to heat ('fire-stranger'); over time the combined term 'clinopyroxene' came to mean specifically 'pyroxene minerals with monoclinic crystal structure', the current technical sense.