The word 'vial' entered English in the 14th century via the Anglo-Norman 'viole' or 'fiole', which referred to a small container for liquids. This Old French term descended from the Latin 'phiala', denoting a shallow drinking cup or bowl. The Latin word was itself a borrowing from the Greek 'phialē', which carried the same meaning. The semantic journey from a broad, open drinking vessel in the classical world to the modern sense of a small, sealed glass bottle for precious liquids reflects a shift in the object's primary function from communal consumption to secure storage and precise dispensing, particularly in medical and scientific contexts.

The word 'vial' is a simplex form. It is a direct borrowing from Anglo-Norman and Old French, where its form was 'fiole' or 'viole', ultimately derived from Latin 'phiala', meaning a broad, flat drinking vessel or bowl, which itself came from Greek 'phialē'.