'angustate' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'angustatus' (past participle of 'angustāre'), where the root 'angust-' meant 'narrow' or 'tight'.

'angustāre' and its participle 'angustatus' were taken into Medieval and Neo-Latin scientific vocabulary and eventually yielded the English technical term 'angustate'.

Initially, it meant 'narrowed' or 'to make narrow', and this sense has been retained in modern technical usage, especially in biology and anatomy.