'polygon' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'polýgōnon' (πολύγωνον), where 'polús' meant 'many' and 'gōnía' meant 'angle'.

'polygon' passed into Late Latin as 'polygonum' (from Greek 'polýgōnon') and was adopted into English (via Medieval/Modern Latin usage) as 'polygon' in the early modern period.

Initially it meant 'many-angled' (a figure with many angles); over time the core meaning has been retained while usage extended into fields like computing and 3D graphics to denote mesh elements.