'aplysia' originates from New Latin as a scientific genus name, ultimately borrowed from Ancient Greek 'aplŷsía' (ἀπλυσία).

'aplysia' was adopted into New Latin taxonomy from the Ancient Greek term and later became the modern scientific genus name 'Aplysia' used in zoology.

Initially a term from Greek, it was incorporated as a taxonomic name in New Latin and came to be used specifically for the marine gastropod genus Aplysia (sea hares).