'neuritogenic' originates from modern scientific coinage combining 'neurite' (from Greek 'neuron' meaning 'nerve' with the diminutive/relational suffix '-ite') and the combining form '-genic' from Greek 'genēs' meaning 'producing' or 'generated'.

'neurite' derives ultimately from Greek 'neuron' (νεῦρον) meaning 'nerve'; the modern term 'neurite' and the productive suffix '-genic' were combined in 20th-century biomedical English to form 'neuritogenic' to describe agents that induce neurite outgrowth.

Initially the elements meant 'nerve' (neuron) + 'producing'; over time the compound came to be used specifically in neuroscience to mean 'causing neurite (axon/dendrite) growth', a specialized biomedical sense.