'perishability' originates from English formation of the adjective 'perishable' plus the noun-forming suffix '-ity'; 'perishable' ultimately comes from Old French 'perir' (from Latin 'perire'), where Latin 'perire' meant 'to perish' or 'to pass away'.

'perish' came into Middle English from Old French 'perir' (itself from Latin 'perire'), 'perishable' developed from 'perish' with the suffix '-able' in later Middle/early Modern English, and 'perishability' was then formed by adding '-ity' to produce the noun meaning 'the state of being perishable'.

Initially related to the basic sense 'to die, to be destroyed' (from Latin 'perire'), the meaning broadened to denote 'liable to spoil or decay' for goods and, more abstractly, 'short-lived' or 'temporary' in modern English.