'anopsia' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'anōpsia' (ἀνώψια), where 'an-' meant 'without' and 'opsis' meant 'sight'.

'anopsia' changed from the Greek word 'anōpsia' into New/Medieval Latin as 'anopsia' and was adopted into modern English as the medical term 'anopsia'.

Initially it meant 'absence of sight' in a general sense, but over time it has been used more specifically to denote 'loss of vision in a portion of the visual field'.