'receptor' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'receptor' (from the verb 'recipere'), where the prefix 're-' meant 'back' or 'again' and the root related to 'capere'/'cipere' (seen as 'cept-') meant 'to take' or 'seize'.

'receptor' passed from Latin (Medieval/Modern Latin 'receptor') into English through scientific and medical usage; the Latin verb 'recipere' (perfect 'recepī', past participle 'receptus') influenced the noun form, and the English noun developed from these Latin forms.

Initially it meant 'one who receives' or 'that which receives' in a general sense; over time it became specialized to mean 'a structure or device that receives particular signals or molecules', especially in biology and technology.