'ichnofossil' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'ichnos', and Latin, specifically the word 'fossilis', where 'ichnos' meant 'track' and 'fossilis' meant 'dug up'.

'ichnofossil' changed from the scientific combination of the Greek prefix 'ichno-' (from 'ichnos') and the Latin-derived English word 'fossil', eventually forming the compound 'ichnofossil' in modern scientific English.

Initially, 'fossil' referred broadly to things 'dug up', but over time the compound 'ichnofossil' came to mean specifically 'fossilized traces of organism activity' rather than preserved body parts.