'Anopheles-associated' originates from the taxonomic genus name 'Anopheles' (from Greek 'anophelēs', meaning 'useless' or 'harmful') combined with the English past-participial adjective 'associated' (from Latin root 'sociāre' via Old French/Latin, meaning 'to join or connect').

'Anopheles' was adopted in scientific Latin as a genus name derived from Greek 'anophelēs'; 'associated' evolved from Latin 'associare' → Old French/Medieval Latin forms → Middle English 'associate', and the compound form 'Anopheles-associated' is a modern English technical adjectival formation used in epidemiology and entomology.

Initially, Greek 'anophelēs' meant 'useless' or 'harmful'; over time it became a neutral taxonomic name for a mosquito genus ('Anopheles'), and when combined with 'associated' the modern meaning is simply 'related to or linked with Anopheles mosquitoes'.