'versification' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'versificare', where 'versus' meant 'a line of verse' and the element derived from 'facere' meant 'to make'.

'versification' changed from Late Latin 'versificatio' (and related Medieval Latin or Old French forms) and was adopted into English by suffixation (from 'versify' + '-ation'), eventually becoming the modern English word 'versification'.

Initially, it meant 'the act of composing lines of verse or turning prose into verse', but over time it broadened to include the study and system of metre, rhyme, and general verse structure.