'anemonal' originates from 'anemone' (the sea creature) and the chemical suffix '-al', where '-al' denotes an aldehyde group in organic chemistry.

'anemonal' was coined in modern scientific English to describe a specific aldehyde compound found in sea anemones, combining the organism's name with the chemical suffix.

Initially, it referred specifically to the aldehyde compound isolated from sea anemones, and this meaning has remained unchanged.