'prevocalic' originates from Latin elements: the prefix 'pre-' (from Latin 'prae-') and 'vocalic' (from Latin 'vocalis'), where 'pre-' meant 'before' and 'vocalis' related to 'voice' or 'vowel'.

'vocalic' comes from Latin 'vocalis' (from 'vox', meaning 'voice') and entered scientific/linguistic usage via Medieval Latin/Old French; 'prevocalic' was formed in English by combining the prefix 'pre-' with 'vocalic' to denote position before a vowel.

Initially the components literally meant 'before' + 'voice/vowel'; the combined term has retained the concrete linguistic meaning 'before a vowel' and is used in phonetics/phonology.