'comic-strip' is a compound of 'comic' + 'strip'. 'comic' originates from Greek via Latin and Old French: Greek 'komikos' → Latin 'comicus' → Old French 'comique', where the root (from Greek 'komos') meant 'revel, merrymaking'. 'strip' comes from Old English/Middle English 'stripe/strypa', meaning 'a long narrow piece' (applied to a strip of paper).

'comic' entered English via Old French in the late Middle Ages, while 'strip' in the sense of a long narrow piece is older. The compound 'comic strip' arose in English in the late 19th century to describe a 'strip' of sequential humorous drawings printed in newspapers and magazines; it became common by the early 20th century.

Initially, 'comic' related to comedic or humorous matters and 'strip' to a narrow piece; combined as 'comic-strip' it originally referred to short humorous drawings (often single panels or short sequences). Over time the term came to denote multi-panel, narrative sequences of cartoons as a standard newspaper feature and later also web-published sequences.