'kataphatic' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'kataphatikos', where the element 'kata-' served as an intensifier/roughly 'down/according to' and the root derives from 'phasis'/'phainein' meaning 'speech' or 'manifestation' (giving the sense of 'affirmation' or 'making manifest').

'kataphatic' passed into Medieval/Scholastic Latin as 'cataphaticus' (or 'kataphatikos' in theological Greek usage) and was adopted into English theological vocabulary in modern usage to denote the affirmative style of theological description.

Initially linked to the general sense of 'affirmation' or 'making manifest', over time it became specialized in theology to mean 'describing the divine by positive attributes' (contrast with apophatic, 'via negativa').