'cyano-' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'kyanos', where 'kyanos' meant 'dark blue'.

'cyano-' entered scientific English via Modern/Neo-Latin and French (French 'cyan' < Greek 'kyanos'), becoming the combining form 'cyano-' used in modern scientific vocabulary.

Initially it meant 'dark blue' in Greek, but over time it evolved into the modern usage meaning 'blue/blue-green' as a prefix and, in chemistry, to denote the cyano (−C≡N) group.