'colorimetric' originates from English, formed from 'color' + the combining form '-metric', where 'color' meant 'colour/color' (from Latin 'color') and '-metric' is ultimately from Greek 'metron' meaning 'measure'.

'colorimetric' developed from the noun 'colorimetry' (formed in the 19th century from 'color' + '-metry'), and the adjective was later formed to describe methods or instruments that measure color.

Initially it referred specifically to methods or devices for measuring color; over time it has retained that technical meaning and is used broadly for any procedure, assay, or instrument concerned with color measurement.