'premillenarist' originates from Latin and French elements: Latin 'prae' (through 'pre-') meaning 'before' and Latin 'mille' meaning 'thousand', combined with French/English formation from 'millénariste'/'millenarian'.

'premillenarist' developed via the English formation from earlier terms such as French 'millénariste' and English 'millenarian'/'millennial', with the prefix 'pre-' added to indicate 'before the millennium', yielding the modern theological term.

Initially the root terms referred broadly to belief in a 'thousand-year' reign; over time the compounded form 'premillenarist' came to designate specifically a person who holds the doctrinal position that Christ's return occurs before that thousand-year reign.