'self-renunciation' originates from Modern English, formed as a compound of 'self' (Old English 'self'), where 'self' meant 'one's own person', and 'renunciation', which comes via Middle English and Old French from Latin 'renuntiatio' (from 'renuntiare').

'renunciation' changed from Latin 'renuntiatio' (a reporting back or formal declaration) through Old French 'renunciacion' and Middle English 'renunciacioun' and eventually became the English noun 'renunciation'; the modern compound 'self-renunciation' developed by combining 'self' + 'renunciation' in Modern English.

Initially, 'renunciation' referred to a formal act of rejecting or declaring abandonment (often by announcement); over time, when combined with 'self' it has come to denote the voluntary giving up or denial of the self, especially in moral or spiritual contexts.