'anisostaminous' originates from New Latin, formed from Greek 'anisos' and Latin 'stamen', where 'anisos' meant 'unequal' and 'stamen' meant 'thread' (used for the floral filament).

'anisostaminous' was coined in botanical New Latin by combining Greek 'anisos' + Latin 'stamen' with the adjectival suffix '-ous' and entered modern botanical English with essentially the same form and sense.

Initially it literally signified 'unequal threads (filaments)', but its usage narrowed in botany to mean 'having stamens of unequal length or arrangement'.