'gerund' originates from Medieval Latin, specifically the word 'gerundium', which was derived from the Latin verb 'gerere' meaning 'to carry; to do'.

'gerund' came into English via Medieval and Late Latin grammatical terminology ('gerundium') and was adopted into English grammatical usage from the 16th–17th centuries as the term for a verb form functioning as a noun.

Initially used for the Latin grammatical form called 'gerundium'; in English it evolved to denote the typically -ing verb form that functions as a noun.