'normoxemic' originates from Neo-Latin/Greek elements: the Neo-Latin prefix 'normo-' (from Latin 'norma') meaning 'rule' or 'standard', combined with 'oxemia' (from Greek 'oxys' meaning 'sharp/acid' and 'haima' meaning 'blood'), where 'oxemia' refers to oxygen in the blood.

'normoxemic' developed by combining Neo-Latin 'normo-' + the medical noun 'oxemia' to form 'normoxemia' (the state of normal blood oxygen), and then the adjectival suffix '-ic' was added to create 'normoxemic'.

Initially the component parts referred to 'standard' and 'blood/oxygen'; over time the compound came to mean specifically 'having normal blood oxygen levels'.