'sclerosing' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'sklēros', where the root 'sklēr-' meant 'hard'.

'sclerosing' developed from the verb 'sclerose' (used in 19th-century medical English), which in turn was formed from New Latin 'sclerosis' (from Greek 'sklērosis'); the present participle/gerund ending '-ing' produced the modern English 'sclerosing'.

Initially associated with the noun sense 'hardness' (the condition of being hard), the term came to be used for the process or agent that causes hardening and as an adjectival descriptor in medical contexts.