'tilakkhana' originates from Pali, specifically the word 'tilakkhaṇa', where 'ti' meant 'three' and 'lakkhaṇa' meant 'mark' or 'characteristic'.

'tilakkhana' changed from Sanskrit 'tri-lakṣaṇa' (literally 'three marks') through Prakrit and Pali forms (e.g. 'tilakkhaṇa') and entered Buddhist technical vocabulary in Middle Indo-Aryan languages.

Initially, it meant 'three marks' in a literal morphological sense, and over time it became the technical term for the Buddhist doctrine enumerating impermanence, suffering, and non-self; this core meaning has been largely preserved.