'anophthalmia' originates from Greek, specifically the elements 'an-' and 'ophthalmos', where 'an-' meant 'without' and 'ophthalmos' meant 'eye', with the Latin/medical suffix '-ia' forming a noun.

'anophthalmia' was formed from Greek elements (an- + ophthalmos) and adopted into New Latin/medical terminology as 'anophthalmia', becoming the standard modern medical English term.

Initially it referred specifically to the absence of an eye ('without eye'), and this core meaning has remained stable in modern medical usage.