'protonise' originates from Modern English, formed from 'proton' + the verb-forming suffix '-ise' (from French/Greek formation patterns); 'proton' ultimately comes from New Latin 'proton' (from Greek 'protos'), where 'protos' meant 'first'.

'proton' came into scientific English from New Latin 'proton', borrowed from Greek 'protos'. The verb was later formed in English by adding the suffix '-ise' or the variant '-ize' to produce 'protonise'/'protonize'.

Initially, the Greek root meant 'first', then it became the name of the subatomic particle 'proton' in modern physics; 'protonise' developed to mean 'to add a proton' in chemical contexts.