'vasoconstrict' originates from Neo-Latin and Latin elements: specifically the combining form 'vaso-' from Latin 'vas', where 'vas' meant 'vessel', and 'constrict' ultimately from Latin 'constringere', where the prefix 'con-' meant 'together' and 'stringere' meant 'to bind or tighten'.

'vasoconstrict' changed from Late Latin forms related to 'constrictus' (the past participle of 'constringere') and the Neo‑Latin combining form 'vaso-'; through modern medical Latin usage the components were joined and it entered English as 'vasoconstrict'.

Initially the Latin root 'constringere' meant 'to bind or tighten', but over time the compound came to mean 'to cause narrowing (tightening) of blood vessels' in modern English usage.