'tribology' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'tribein', where 'trib-' meant 'to rub' and the combining form '-logy' (from Greek 'logos') meant 'study'.

'tribology' was coined in English in the mid-20th century (often credited to Peter Jost in 1966) to name the interdisciplinary study of friction, wear, and lubrication; it became the standard technical term in engineering and materials science.

Initially it meant 'the newly coined discipline studying rubbing-related phenomena (friction, wear, lubrication)'; over time the scope broadened to include surface interactions, coatings, lubrication engineering, and system-level tribological design.