'aortomalacia' originates from Greek, specifically the combining form 'aorto-' from 'aorta' and 'malacia' from 'malakos', where 'aorta' referred to the main artery and 'malakos' meant 'soft'.

'aortomalacia' is a modern medical formation combining the New Latin/Greek elements 'aorto-' (from Greek 'aorta') and '-malacia' (from Greek 'malakos' via New Latin), produced in medical English to denote softening of the aorta.

Initially, the roots referred separately to 'the aorta' and 'softness'; together in modern medical usage they specifically mean 'softening of the aortic wall' (a pathological condition).