'receptacle' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'receptaculum,' where 'recept-' meant 'received' and '-aculum' was a suffix used to form nouns.

'receptaculum' transformed into the Old French word 'receptacle,' and eventually became the modern English word 'receptacle' through Middle English.

Initially, it meant 'a place to receive or hold something,' and this meaning has largely remained the same in modern usage.