'lapsarianism' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'lapsus', where 'laps-' meant 'a falling' or 'slip', combined with the suffixes '-arian' (from Latin '-arius', meaning 'pertaining to' or 'one who') and '-ism' (forming doctrines or systems).

'lapsarianism' changed from Late Latin or Medieval Latin formations based on 'lapsus' (e.g. hypothetical Late Latin *lapsarius) into English as 'lapsarian' and then 'lapsarianism' to denote a doctrine concerning a fall; the modern English form developed by combining the adjective with '-ism'.

Initially it referred broadly to anything 'pertaining to a fall' (from Latin), but over time it narrowed to the specific theological sense of 'a doctrine about the Fall of humankind' and related positions in systematic theology.