'anatomo-pathological' originates from a modern medical compound formed from the prefix 'anatomo-' (from Greek) and 'pathological' (from Greek/Latin); 'anatome' in Greek meant 'dissection' or 'cutting up', and 'pathos' in Greek meant 'suffering' or 'disease', with '-logia' meaning 'study'.

'anatomo-pathological' developed from the noun 'anatomo-pathology' (the study of anatomical changes due to disease), which in turn arose by combining the older terms 'anatomy' (from Late Latin/anatomia, from Greek anatome) and 'pathology' (from Greek pathologia). The compound form became established in 19th-century medical English usage.

Initially it broadly referred to matters of dissection and disease (anatomical study of disease), and over time it came to be used specifically for findings or features that describe anatomical (structural) changes caused by disease.