'methoxybenzene' is formed from the combining elements 'methoxy-' and 'benzene'. 'Methoxy-' comes from 'methyl' + 'oxy' (in chemical usage meaning a -O- group bonded to a methyl), and 'benzene' is the name for the six-carbon aromatic ring.

'methoxy-' derives from 'methyl' (from Neo-Latin/Greek roots related to 'methy' meaning 'wine' historically used in naming methyl) combined with the chemical combining form 'oxy' (from Greek 'oxys' via Latin/chemical usage related to oxygen). 'Benzene' comes ultimately from 'benzoin' (a resin name) via Medieval/Modern Latin and German 'Benzol', and the modern English 'benzene' was established in the 19th century. These parts combined in systematic chemical nomenclature to form 'methoxybenzene'.

Initially the constituent names referred to separate historical substances or roots ('methyl', 'benzoin'), but in modern chemical nomenclature they combine to denote a specific compound: a benzene ring bearing a methoxy substituent (i.e., anisole).