Jan Irvin at GnosticMedia has an interesting article about this "Entheogens: What’s in a Name? The Untold History of Psychedelic Spirituality, Social Control, and the CIA" [0] (note: this is part 4 of a 5-part series).
"Today there are many names for drug substances that we commonly refer to as “hallucinogens,” “psychedelics,” “psychoactives,” or “entheogens,” et al. But it hasn’t always been that way. The study of the history and etymology of the words for these fascinating substances takes us, surprisingly, right into the heart of military intelligence, and what became the CIA’s infamous MKULTRA mind control program, and reveals how the names themselves were used in marketing these substances to the public, and especially to the youth and countercultures."
edit: There is some interesting etymology here, Irvin claims it evolved from the word "psychotomimetic" (mimicking psychosis)
[0] https://www.gnosticmedia.com/Entheogens_WhatsinaName_Psyched...