The word 'terpene' is a 19th-century scientific borrowing from German 'Terpen', itself a shortened form of 'Terpentin', meaning 'turpentine'. Turpentine, a fluid obtained from conifer trees, is a key source of these compounds. The German term traces back to the Latin 'terebinthina (resina)', meaning 'resin of the terebinth tree', a Mediterranean tree historically tapped for its resin. Thus, the modern chemical term for a class of hydrocarbons retains a direct link to its original natural source in plant resins.

The word is a simplex loanword from German. It is not productively formed from separable English morphemes.