'dichromate' originates from scientific English, formed from the prefix 'di-' meaning 'two' and 'chromate', which comes from 'chromium' (ultimately from Greek 'khrôma' meaning 'color') plus the salt-forming suffix '-ate'.

'dichromate' coexisted with the older term 'bichromate' in 19th–20th-century chemistry; modern standardized nomenclature prefers 'dichromate' in English usage.

Initially, it meant the salts of dichromic acid and the corresponding anion; this technical meaning has remained stable, though the preferred term shifted from 'bichromate' to 'dichromate'.