'orchestrion' originates from German, specifically the word 'Orchestrion', where the element 'orchestra' (from Greek 'orchēstra') meant 'a place for dancing' or 'a space for performance'.

'orchestrion' changed from the German word 'Orchestrion' (a 19th-century term for mechanical orchestral machines) and eventually entered English as the modern word 'orchestrion'.

Initially, it meant 'a mechanical device that reproduced orchestral music', and over time it has retained this specialized meaning referring to automatic or mechanical orchestral instruments.