'annapurna' originates from Sanskrit, specifically the word 'Annapūrṇā', where 'anna' meant 'food' and 'pūrṇa' meant 'full' or 'complete'.

'Annapūrṇā' was originally the name of a Hindu goddess of food; the name was later applied to the mountains in Nepal. The English use of 'annapurna' as a place name entered mountaineering and geographic literature via Nepali and colonial-era exploration accounts in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Initially it meant 'full of food' or referred to the goddess who provides food; over time the same name came to denote the Himalayan mountain massif and specific peaks, while retaining the original religious sense in Hindu contexts.