'apterygidae' originates from New Latin (scientific Latin), formed from the genus name 'Apteryx' plus the family-forming suffix '-idae'. The genus name 'Apteryx' comes from Ancient Greek 'apterux' (ἀπτερύξ / apterux), where the prefix 'a-' meant 'without' and 'pterux' meant 'wing'.

'Apteryx' was Latinized from the Greek 'apterux' and used as a genus name in modern zoological nomenclature; the family name 'Apterygidae' was subsequently formed from that genus name with the standard zoological suffix '-idae' to denote a family.

Originally referring to the Greek idea of 'wingless' (a- 'without' + pterux 'wing'), the term has come to denote the specific taxonomic family of birds (kiwis) rather than just the literal attribute 'wingless.'