How is phosphoric acid named from the phosphate ion?

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The structure of phosphorous acid, H3PO3. — oxyacid The structure of phosphorous acid, H₃PO₃.

In the nomenclature of oxygen-containing acids, the name of the acid is derived from the name of its corresponding anion. When an anion's name ends in -ate, the suffix is replaced by -ic to form the name of the acid.1

Following this rule, phosphoric acid ( $H_{3} P O_{4}$ ) is named based on the phosphate ion ( $P O_{4}^{3 -}$ ). By replacing the -ate ending of "phosphate" with -ic, the resulting name is "phosphoric acid".1