'ankylosaural' originates from New Latin/Greek, specifically the genus name 'Ankylosaurus', which itself comes from Greek 'ankylos' meaning 'fused' and 'sauros' meaning 'lizard'; the English adjectival suffix '-al' was added to form 'ankylosaural'.

'ankylosaural' changed from the New Latin genus name 'Ankylosaurus' (coined for the dinosaur) into the English noun 'ankylosaur' (referring to members of that group) and eventually into the adjective 'ankylosaural' by suffixation in English.

Initially the root referred to the genus name meaning 'fused lizard', but over time it evolved into the adjectival sense 'relating to ankylosaurs'.