'anlaute' originates from German, specifically the word 'Anlaut', where the prefix 'an-' meant 'on/at' and 'Laut' meant 'sound'.

'Anlaut' in German (plural 'Anlaute') was adopted into linguistic terminology in English as 'anlaut' (and its plural forms, sometimes written 'anlauts' or preserved as 'anlaute'), keeping the original sense.

Initially it referred to 'sound at or on (the beginning)', and over time it has remained specialized to mean 'the initial sound(s) of a word' in linguistic usage.