'anguria' originates from Italian, specifically the word 'anguria', where the root from Greek 'angourion' meant 'cucumber'.

'angourion' transformed into Medieval Latin 'anguria', then into Italian 'anguria', and eventually entered modern English as a botanical/loanword term.

Initially, it meant 'cucumber' (in Greek), later in Italian it came to mean 'watermelon', while in English it is chiefly used for the gourd species Cucumis anguria (bur gherkin).