'after-coxal' originates from English, specifically the compound 'after' + 'coxal', where 'after' meant 'behind/after' and 'coxal' relates to Latin 'coxa' meaning 'hip' or 'hip-joint'.

'coxal' comes from Latin 'coxa' and the Neo-Latin/medical-form 'coxalis', which produced English technical words like 'coxal'. The compound 'after-coxal' is a modern English anatomical formation combining 'after' with 'coxal' to indicate position.

Initially elements like 'coxal' referred generally to the hip or basal joint; over time the compound 'after-coxal' came to be used specifically in entomology and anatomy to mean 'posterior to the coxa'.