'glycyl' originates from the amino-acid name 'glycine' combined with the chemical suffix '-yl', where 'glycine' ultimately comes from the Greek word 'glykys' meaning 'sweet'.

'glycyl' was formed by applying the organic-chemistry suffix '-yl' to 'glycine' to denote a radical or substituent; 'glycine' was named in the 19th century from Greek 'glykys' ('sweet') and the modern chemical term developed through systematic nomenclature in the 19th–20th centuries.

Initially, the Greek root meant 'sweet' (referring to the taste of the compound later named glycine); over time the term evolved so that 'glycyl' now specifically denotes a group or residue derived from glycine.