'hypercarbemia' originates from Greek and New Latin, specifically combining the Greek prefix 'hyper-' meaning 'over, excessive', the root 'carb-' ultimately from Latin 'carbo' (from Greek 'káρβον') meaning 'coal, carbon', and the Greek-derived suffix '-emia' from 'haima' meaning 'blood'.

'hypercarbemia' was formed in modern medical Latin by joining the combining forms 'hyper-' + 'carb-' + '-emia'; it emerged in medical usage as clinicians adopted classical roots to describe abnormal blood conditions and has been used alongside related terms like 'hypercarbia' and 'hypercapnia'.

Initially built from roots that could imply 'excess carbon in the blood', its usage has narrowed in medicine to mean specifically 'excess carbon dioxide (CO2) in the blood'.