'anophelicidal' originates from a combination of the genus name 'Anopheles' (from Greek 'anophelēs', meaning 'useless' or 'harmful') and the English adjectival suffix '-cidal' (from Latin 'caedere', meaning 'to kill').

'Anopheles' comes from Greek 'anophelēs' and entered scientific Latin/modern taxonomy as the genus name 'Anopheles'; the suffix '-cidal' derives via Latin/French formations related to 'caedere'/'-cida' and entered English in compounds such as 'pesticidal' and 'homicidal'. The modern English adjective 'anophelicidal' was formed by combining these elements to mean 'killing Anopheles'.

The Greek root 'anophelēs' originally meant 'useless' or 'harmful'; combined with '-cidal' in modern coinage it shifted to the specific technical meaning 'killing Anopheles mosquitoes'.