'ankylostoma' originates from Greek, specifically from the elements 'ankyl-' and 'stoma', where 'ankyl-' meant 'bent, hooked' and 'stoma' meant 'mouth'.

'ankylostoma' was formed in New Latin as a scientific genus name derived from Greek elements ('ankylos' + 'stoma') and was adopted into modern scientific English usage as the name for a group of hookworms.

Initially it literally meant 'hooked mouth' describing the worm's morphology; over time it became specialized as the taxonomic name for certain hookworms and is now used primarily in parasitology.