The term originates from the Xerox Corporation, founded in 1906. The company name itself was coined from 'xerography', the dry copying process invented by Chester Carlson. 'Xerography' combines the Greek roots 'xēros' (meaning 'dry') and '-graphia' (meaning 'writing'). By the 1970s, 'Xerox' had become so synonymous with the process that it generically turned into a verb meaning 'to photocopy'. The form 'xeroxed' follows standard English grammatical rules, adding '-ed' to indicate the past action or state of having been copied.

The word is a proprietary eponym derived from the trademark 'Xerox', the name of a company and its brand of photocopiers. The '-ed' suffix is a regular English inflection for forming the past tense and past participle of verbs or adjectives from verbs.