'pheromone' originates from modern scientific coinage based on Greek elements, specifically 'pherein' and 'hormone' (from Greek 'hormaein'), where 'pherein' meant 'to carry' and 'hormaein' meant 'to set in motion'; the term was coined to denote a substance that carries a signal.

'pheromone' was coined in 1959 by Peter Karlson and Martin Lüscher for use in chemical ecology; it entered scientific English directly as the modern term 'pheromone' without an extended medieval or vernacular history.

Initially it referred specifically to chemical messengers exchanged between members of the same species (especially insects); over time the term has kept that core meaning while being applied more broadly (e.g., to some plant or microbial signals) and in popular usage.