'anthobiology' originates from Greek and New Latin elements: specifically from Greek 'anthos' meaning 'flower' and from 'biologia' (from Greek 'bios' meaning 'life' + 'logos' meaning 'study').

'anthobiology' was formed in Neo‑Latin/Modern scientific usage by combining Greek 'anthos' with 'biologia' (or directly with the English 'biology') and was adopted into English as the technical term 'anthobiology'.

Initially it referred narrowly to the study of flowers ('flower‑life'), and over time it has been used in scientific contexts to mean the biology of flowers and their ecological interactions (the current sense remains closely related to the original).