'anodonta' originates from New Latin, specifically the genus name 'Anodonta', which itself comes from Greek 'anodontos' where the prefix 'a-' meant 'without' and 'odont-' meant 'tooth'.

'anodonta' came into scientific English as the New Latin genus name 'Anodonta', derived from Greek 'anodontos' (ἀνodontος), and was adopted into modern biological nomenclature to name the genus of toothless-hinged freshwater mussels.

Initially it meant 'without teeth' (describing the lack of hinge teeth), but over time it became the proper name for a genus of freshwater mussels and now refers to those bivalves or species within that genus.