'kinesis' originates from Ancient Greek, specifically the word 'kinesis', where the root 'kinein' meant 'to move'.

'kinesis' was taken into New Latin/scientific Latin from Greek and later adopted into English (mainly in the 19th century) for use in scientific and technical contexts.

Initially, it meant 'movement' in Greek, and over time it has largely retained that sense while acquiring specialized uses in biology and psychology to denote specific types of movement.