'aphagias' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'aphagia', where 'a-' meant 'without' and 'phagein' meant 'to eat or to eat up (to devour).

'aphagia' entered medical/Scientific English via New Latin/medical Latin from Greek 'aphagia' and was adopted into English as 'aphagia'; the regular English plural form became 'aphagias'.

Initially it referred more generally to 'not eating' or 'absence of eating'; over time it came to be used specifically for the inability or refusal to swallow (a clinical inability to deglutite).