'phoria' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'phoria', where the root 'pherein' meant 'to carry' or 'to bear'.

'phoria' passed into New Latin/medical Latin as 'phoria' (used in medical terminology) and was adopted into English largely in technical/medical contexts as the noun and as the combining form '-phoria'.

Initially it meant 'a carrying' or 'the act of carrying', but over time it evolved into the specialised medical sense of a latent ocular deviation and into the abstract sense of 'a state or feeling' when used as a suffix.