'ethylation' originates from the combination of the noun 'ethyl' (coined in the early 19th century in modern chemistry) and the suffix '-ation' from Latin via French, where 'ethyl' referred to the ethyl radical and '-ation' denotes an action or process.

'ethyl' was coined in 19th-century chemistry from French 'éthyle' (itself formed relating to 'ether' and the radical suffix '-yl'), and later English formed the noun 'ethylation' by adding the productive derivational suffix '-ation' to denote the process of introducing an ethyl group.

Initially, terms built on 'ethyl' were used to denote the ethyl radical or group; over time 'ethylation' came to mean specifically the reaction/process of introducing an ethyl group into a molecule and, by extension, the state of being ethylated.