'anhedron' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'an-' and 'hédra', where 'an-' meant 'without' and 'hédra' meant 'seat; base; face'.

'anhedron' changed from New Latin scientific combining forms based on Greek: Greek 'hédra' > Late Latin '-hedra' > New Latin '-hedron', with the privative Greek prefix 'an-' yielding the modern English formation 'anhedron'.

Initially, it meant 'a body without (crystal) faces' in scientific use, and this sense has largely remained in specialized contexts.