'objectify' originates from the English noun 'object' (from Latin 'objectum'), combined with the suffix '-ify' (from Latin '-ificare' via Old French '-ifier'), where 'ob-' meant 'against' (or 'toward') and 'iacere'/'jacere' meant 'to throw', and '-ficare'/'facere' meant 'to make'.

'object' came into English via Old French 'objet' from Latin 'objectum'; the verb-forming suffix '-ify' comes from Latin '-ificare' (from 'facere') through Old French; these elements combined in Modern English to form 'objectify'.

Initially the components conveyed the idea of 'making into an object' (a literal formation); over time it developed the additional sense of treating a person as an object (often with demeaning or sexual connotations) and the more neutral sense of 'making something concrete'.