'amphitropical' originates from New Latin/modern scientific coinage, specifically from the Greek prefix 'amphi-' (Greek 'amphi') meaning 'on both sides' combined with 'tropical' from Greek 'tropikos' via Latin 'tropicus', where 'tropikos'/'tropicus' is related to 'turn' (originally referring to the sun's turning points, i.e. the tropics).

'amphitropical' was formed in modern scientific English by combining the Greek-derived prefix 'amphi-' and the adjective 'tropical' (from Greek 'tropikos' through Latin 'tropicus'), and it entered biogeographical usage to describe distributions on both sides of the tropics.

Initially, the parts meant 'on both sides' and 'relating to the tropics/turning points'; over time the combined term has been used specifically in biogeography to mean 'occurring on both sides of the tropics' and has retained that specialized sense.