'epidotize' originates from English, formed from the noun 'epidote' plus the productive suffix '-ize' (from Greek/Latin usage), where '-ize' meant 'to make or to subject to'.

'epidote' ultimately comes from Greek 'epidōtēs' (ἐπιδότης) meaning 'given' (from 'epí' = 'upon' + 'didōmi' = 'to give'); it passed into modern European usage (e.g. French 'épidote') and into English as 'epidote', and the verb 'epidotize' was later formed in English by adding the suffix '-ize'.

Originally related to the Greek sense 'given', it became the mineral name 'epidote' and later the verb 'epidotize' came to mean 'to subject a rock to epidote alteration' (i.e. 'make or alter by epidote').