'lubricate' originates from Latin, specifically the verb 'lubricare', where the stem 'lubric-' (from 'lubricus') meant 'slippery'.

'lubricare' and its past participle 'lubricatus' in Late Latin influenced Old and Medieval Romance forms; the modern English 'lubricate' was borrowed via learned Late Latin/French formations into English in the 17th century.

Initially it meant 'to make slippery'; over time it came to mean more generally 'to apply a substance to reduce friction' and, by extension, 'to make a process run smoothly'.