'infection-control' is a modern English compound of 'infection' and 'control'. 'infection' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'infectio' (from past participle 'infectus' of 'inficere'), where 'in-' meant 'into' and 'ficere' (related to 'facere') meant 'to make or do'. 'control' originates from Old French/Anglo-Norman, ultimately from medieval Latin 'contrarotulus' (a 'counter-roll' or duplicate of a register) where 'contra-' meant 'against' and 'rotulus' meant 'roll', later developing the sense 'to check or regulate'.

'infection' passed into Middle English via Old French forms (e.g. 'infection') from Latin 'infectio'; 'control' passed through Old French/Anglo-Norman (e.g. 'contreroller') and medieval Latin forms before becoming modern English 'control'. The two were later combined in modern English into the compound 'infection-control' (or 'infection control').

Originally, 'infection' referred to the act or state of being infected (a tainting or corrupting), and 'control' referred to checking or regulating (originally a record-checking sense); together in modern usage the compound has come to mean the organized practices and rules used to check and prevent the spread of infections.