'multiclass' originates from late 20th century English, specifically a compound of 'multi-' and 'class', where 'multi-' meant 'many' and 'class' meant 'group or category'.

'multi-' derives from Latin 'multus' meaning 'much, many'; 'class' ultimately comes from Latin 'classis' meaning 'division' (via Old French 'classe' and Middle English 'classe'). The compound 'multiclass' emerged in gaming communities in the late 20th century to describe characters combining more than one class.

Initially it literally combined the elements 'multi-' (many) and 'class' (category). Over time it specialized in gaming contexts to mean 'to take levels in more than one character class' and, by extension, 'a character with levels in multiple classes'.