'apios' originates from Modern botanical Latin (genus name 'Apios'), ultimately from Ancient Greek 'ἀπιος' (apios), where 'apios' meant 'pear-like' or 'of a pear'.

'apios' was borrowed into New/Modern Latin as the botanical genus name 'Apios' (used in taxonomy), which was then adopted into English as the name of the genus and as a common name for species such as Apios americana.

Initially, the Greek word meant 'pear-like' or 'of a pear'; over time the term was adopted in botanical Latin as a genus name and came to refer specifically to these leguminous plants (and, by extension, the edible tuber-producing species).