'cube' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'cubus', which in turn comes from Greek 'κύβος' ('kybos'), meaning 'a cube' or 'die'.

'cube' changed from Latin 'cubus' into Old French 'cube' and entered Middle English as 'cube', eventually becoming the modern English word 'cube'.

Initially it meant 'a die or six-faced solid', but over time it evolved into the mathematical sense 'raise to the third power' and the descriptive sense 'cut into cube-shaped pieces'.