'anuran' originates from New Latin, specifically the word 'Anura', where 'an-' meant 'without' and 'oura' meant 'tail'.

'anuran' changed from New Latin 'Anura', ultimately from Ancient Greek 'anouros' (ἀνούρος) meaning 'without a tail', and entered modern English as a derivative term referring to members of that order.

Initially it meant 'without a tail' (descriptive of the animal's morphology), and over time it came to mean specifically 'a frog or toad' or 'relating to frogs and toads' in biological usage.