'ovulation' originates from New Latin, specifically the word 'ovulatio', where 'ovulum' was a diminutive of Latin 'ovum' meaning 'egg' (with the suffix '-ation' forming a noun).

'ovulatio' (New Latin) passed into scientific usage in modern European languages and was adopted into English as 'ovulation' in the 18th–19th century.

Initially, the term referred to the act or process relating to 'little egg' (ovulum), and over time it has come to denote specifically the biological event of releasing a mature egg from an ovary.