'anthracoemia' originates from Greek, specifically the elements 'anthrax' and 'haima', where 'anthrax' meant 'coal' and 'haima' meant 'blood'.

'anthracoemia' was formed via New Latin medical coinage combining Greek elements (anthrax + -emia) and entered English as a technical/historical medical term; earlier Medieval/Latin forms used similar compounds referring to blackening or coal-related discoloration.

Initially it referred literally to 'coal in the blood' (reports of carbonous pigmentation in blood); over time the term remained rare and largely historical, with modern medicine describing such findings with more specific pathology terms.