'Anisopodidae-like' originates from modern English by combining 'Anisopodidae' (the zoological family name) with the English adjectival suffix '-like' meaning 'similar to'.

'Anisopodidae' itself comes from Neo-Latin zoological formation 'Anisopodidae' (family name), which was created from Greek elements 'anisos' meaning 'unequal' and 'pous/pod-' meaning 'foot', with the standard taxonomic suffix '-idae'; adding English '-like' produced the descriptive adjective 'Anisopodidae-like'.

Initially the root referred to a morphological notion ('unequal foot') used in naming; over time it became the fixed taxonomic name for the family, and the modern compound 'Anisopodidae-like' evolved to mean 'having resemblance to that family'.