'annelide' originates from New Latin 'Annelida', ultimately from Latin 'annellus' (diminutive of 'annulus'), where 'annellus' meant 'little ring'.

'annelide' entered scientific and English usage via New Latin 'Annelida' and French 'annelide' in the 18th–19th centuries; the Latin root 'annellus' ('little ring') influenced the form.

Initially the root referred to 'little ring' (the ringed appearance of the body); over time the term came to denote the animals themselves — 'segmented (ringed) worms' of the phylum Annelida.