'Anlaut' originates from German, specifically the word 'Anlaut', where the prefix 'an-' meant 'on/at' and 'Laut' meant 'sound'.

'Anlaut' developed from Middle High German forms (e.g. 'anlūt') and from older Germanic elements: the prefix 'an-' (Old High German 'an') + 'Laut' (Old High German 'lût'/'lūt'), and was later borrowed into English linguistic usage as the technical term 'Anlaut'.

Initially a compound meaning roughly 'on-/at-sound' in Germanic languages, the term came to have the specialized phonological meaning 'initial sound (onset)' that it retains in modern usage.