'peptide' originates from Greek, specifically the element 'peptid-' (from Greek 'peptos' / 'peptein'), where 'peptos' meant 'digested' or related to 'to digest'; 'bond' originates from Old English/Middle English, ultimately related to words meaning 'binding' or 'tie'.

'peptide' entered scientific vocabulary via Neo-Latin/German (e.g. German 'Peptid') in the late 19th to early 20th century and was adopted into modern English as 'peptide'. 'bond' passed from Old English/Middle English forms meaning a tie or binding into the modern English word 'bond' and was extended metaphorically and technically to mean a chemical linkage.

Initially, the root for 'peptide' related to the idea of 'digested' or 'partly digested'; over time 'peptide' came to mean short chains of amino acids. 'Bond' originally meant a tie or obligation and evolved to include the technical meaning of a connection between atoms (chemical bond).