'endodermalization' originates from Neo-Latin/Modern English, combining the Greek-derived prefix 'endo-' (from Greek 'endon' meaning 'within'), the stem 'derm' (from Greek 'derma' meaning 'skin' or 'layer'), the adjectival suffix '-al', and the nominalizing suffix '-ization' indicating 'the process of'.

'endodermalization' developed from the 19th-century scientific term 'endoderm' (coined from Greek 'endon' + 'derma'), which produced the adjective 'endodermal'; adding the productive English suffix '-ization' formed the modern noun 'endodermalization' to denote the process.

Initially the components referred simply to the 'inner skin' or 'inner layer'; over time the compound came to denote specifically the biological process by which that inner germ layer is produced or specified in embryos.