'viscoelasticity' is a modern compound formed from the prefix 'visco-' (from 'viscous', ultimately from Latin 'viscosus') and 'elasticity' (from Greek 'elastikos' via Latin 'elasticus'), where 'viscous' originally meant 'sticky' and 'elastic' meant 'able to stretch or return to shape'.

'viscoelasticity' developed by combining the English adjective 'viscous' (from Latin 'viscosus') with 'elasticity' (from Greek 'elastikos' through Latin); the adjective 'viscoelastic' appeared in scientific usage in the 20th century and the noun form followed as 'viscoelasticity'.

Initially the roots referred separately to 'stickiness' and 'stretchiness'; over time the combined term came to denote the specific material behaviour that involves both time-dependent flow and recoverable deformation.