'aortal' originates from New Latin, specifically the word 'aortalis', where the suffix '-alis' meant 'pertaining to' and 'aorta' meant 'the main artery (aorta)'.

'aortal' changed from Medieval/Modern Latin word 'aortalis', derived from Latin 'aorta', which in turn comes from Greek 'ἀορτή' (aortē); it entered English via New/Scientific Latin usage as the adjective form 'aortal' or 'aortalis'.

Initially the root referred to the anatomical vessel named 'aorta' (from Greek, originally meaning a 'lifting' or 'what is lifted' in older senses), and over time the adjective form came to mean 'pertaining to that vessel' (the modern anatomical sense).