'Gymnophiona' originates from New Latin, ultimately from Ancient Greek, specifically the words 'gymnos' and 'ophis', where 'gymnos' meant 'naked' and 'ophis' meant 'snake'.

'Gymnophiona' was coined in modern taxonomic (New Latin) usage from the Ancient Greek roots 'gymnos' + 'ophis' and was adopted as the formal name for the order of caecilians; earlier classifications often used the name 'Apoda' (from Greek 'a-' + 'pous' meaning 'without foot').

Initially, the component roots described a 'naked snake', but over time the compound became a formal scientific name denoting the order of legless amphibians known as caecilians.