'anisodontic' originates from Greek, specifically the elements 'anisos' and 'odous/odont-', where 'aniso-' meant 'unequal' and 'odont-' (from 'odous') meant 'tooth'.

'anisodontic' is a modern scientific coinage formed from Greek roots (aniso- + -odontic) via New Latin/Modern scientific usage and was adopted into English in technical zoological and paleontological contexts.

Initially, the roots conveyed 'unequal' and 'tooth', and the term's meaning has remained essentially the same: 'pertaining to unequal teeth' in modern usage.