'Plantago' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'plantago', where 'planta' meant 'sole of the foot' (referring to the flat shape of the leaves) and the suffix '-ago' indicated a related object.

'Plantago' was used in Classical Latin for certain flat-leaved plants; the Latin term passed into Medieval Latin largely unchanged and was adopted into English botanical usage as the genus name 'Plantago'.

Initially, the Latin root related to 'the sole of the foot' (planta) because of the leaf shape; over time the term came to denote the plant itself and eventually the formal botanical genus name 'Plantago'.