'megasporogenesis' originates from Greek: 'mega-' (Greek 'mégas') meaning 'large', 'spora' meaning 'seed' or 'spore', and 'genesis' (Greek 'génesis') meaning 'origin' or 'creation'.

'megasporogenesis' is formed from classical Greek roots combined in modern scientific New Latin/English usage to name the developmental process; the separate elements 'mega-', 'sporo-', and '-genesis' were joined in 19th–20th century botanical terminology to create the compound noun.

Initially, the component roots referred generally to 'large' + 'spore' + 'origin'; over time the compound came to denote the specific biological process of producing megaspores and the developmental sequence leading to the female gametophyte.