'anisotropal' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'anisotropos', where the prefix 'an-' meant 'not', 'iso-' (from 'isos') meant 'equal', and 'tropos' meant 'turn' or 'direction'.

'anisotropal' developed in scientific English from the noun 'anisotropy' (from Greek roots) combined with the adjectival suffix '-al', forming an adjective meaning 'relating to anisotropy'; it appears in technical literature as an alternative to 'anisotropic'.

Initially rooted in the idea 'not equal in all directions', the term evolved into the modern technical sense 'having properties that differ by direction' used in physics, materials science, and engineering.