"Agoric" is derived from the Greek word agora [from ancient Greek ageirein - to assemble; also related to gregarious] which means a gathering place. It is especially associated with the town's marketplace in ancient Greece, most famed being the Agora of Athens. The word connotes not only marketplace, but gathering together, openness.

A fear of open systems is commonly known as "agoraphobia" ;)

"Agoric" was likely first used in English in Miller and Drexler's Agorics Papers, written in 1986.