'procyclical' originates from Latin and Greek, specifically the Latin prefix 'pro' and the Greek word 'kyklos', where 'pro' meant 'forward' or 'for' and 'kyklos' meant 'circle' or 'wheel'.

'procyclical' formed in modern English by combining the Latin prefix 'pro-' with 'cyclical' (from Late Latin 'cyclicus' and Greek 'kyklikos'); the element 'cyclicus' itself comes via Latin from Greek 'kyklos', and the combined formation was adopted in economic usage in the 20th century.

Initially the roots referred broadly to 'forward' and 'circle' (i.e. something relating to cycles); over time the compound came to be used specifically in economics to mean 'varying together with the business cycle' and is now primarily used in that technical sense.