'anthurium' originates from New Latin (botanical Latin), ultimately from Greek 'anthos' + 'oura', where 'anthos' meant 'flower' and 'oura' meant 'tail'.

'anthurium' came into botanical Latin as 'Anthurium' from Greek components 'anthos' and 'oura', and was adopted into English from New Latin botanical usage in the 18th century as 'anthurium'.

Initially it literally meant 'flower-tail' (referring to the plant's tail-like spadix), and this descriptive meaning has been retained in modern usage as the name of the plant.