'antennula' originates from New Latin (Modern Latin), specifically the word 'antennula', where the suffix '-ula' functioned as a diminutive added to Latin 'antenna' which originally meant 'sail-yard' or the yard of a sail.

'antennula' developed from Latin/Neo-Latin usage as a diminutive of 'antenna' and entered scientific English terminology to denote a small or secondary antenna, becoming the zoological term 'antennula'.

Initially, it was a diminutive form meaning 'little antenna' (with 'antenna' originally referring to a 'sail-yard'), but over time it evolved into the specialized biological meaning 'small sensory antenna (often the first pair) in crustaceans and other arthropods'.