The word 'toon' is a modern American English slang term, originating as a shortened form of 'cartoon.' The term 'cartoon' itself has an artistic history, derived from the Italian 'cartone,' meaning a large sheet of paper or a preparatory drawing, which in turn comes from 'carta' for paper, from Latin 'charta' and ultimately Greek 'khartēs' (sheet of papyrus). In the 19th century, 'cartoon' referred to a humorous drawing in a newspaper or magazine. With the rise of animated films in the 20th century, 'cartoon' became the standard term for such animations. The clipped form 'toon' gained widespread popularity in the late 1980s following the live-action/animated film 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit,' where cartoon characters were referred to as 'toons,' cementing its specific association with animated characters rather than static drawings.

The word is a loanword and a shortening, not productively formed from separable English morphemes. It is a clipping of the word "cartoon."