'metabolise' originates from Ancient Greek, specifically the word 'metaballein' (via Latin/Modern Latin and French), where 'meta-' meant 'change' and 'ballein' meant 'to throw' or 'to put'.

'metabolise' changed from Greek 'metaballein' and Greek noun 'metabolē' into Late Latin/Medieval Latin forms such as 'metabolismus', passed into French (e.g. 'métaboliser') and was adopted into English in the late 19th century as 'metabolise'.

Initially it meant 'a change' or 'to change', but over time it evolved into the more specific scientific meaning 'to change chemically within a living organism (to metabolise)', which is the modern usage.