'aorto-iliac' originates from Greek and Latin: from Greek 'aortē' (ἀορτή) where 'aortē' referred to the large arterial trunk (the aorta), and from Latin 'iliacus' (from 'ilium') where 'ilium' referred to the flank or hip (used for the iliac region/artery).

'aorto-iliac' developed as a compound in New/Modern Latin and English medical usage by combining the combining form 'aorto-' (from New Latin 'aorta', itself from Greek 'aortē') with 'iliac' (from Latin 'iliacus'). Over time it became used in English as the hyphenated technical term 'aorto-iliac'.

Initially it denoted anatomical relation to the aorta or the ilium/iliac region; in modern medical usage it specifically denotes relation to the aorta and the iliac arteries and related pathologies (the meaning has remained essentially the same but narrowed to vascular contexts).