'triphosphate' originates from Greek and Neo-Latin/modern chemical formation: the prefix 'tri-' (from Greek 'treis') meaning 'three' combined with 'phosphate', which comes via Neo-Latin/French from Greek 'phōsphoros' ('light-bringing'); the element 'phosphor-' originally referred to 'light-bearing', and the suffix '-ate' is a chemical/formational ending.

'triphosphate' was formed in modern chemical English by joining the classical combining form 'tri-' with the established chemical noun 'phosphate'. The word 'phosphate' entered scientific vocabulary from Neo-Latin 'phosphatum' (and French 'phosphate'), ultimately from Greek 'phōsphoros'. The full compound term became common in 19th-century biochemical nomenclature (e.g., adenosine triphosphate).

Initially related to substances associated with phosphorus (and originally the notion of 'light-bearing' from Greek), 'phosphate' came to mean a salt or ester of phosphoric acid; accordingly, 'triphosphate' evolved to mean specifically a molecule bearing three phosphate groups.