'apterygote-like' originates from Modern English, formed by compounding the scientific term 'apterygote' and the English suffix 'like' (from Old English 'līc'), where 'apterygote' referred to wingless insects and 'like' meant 'having the form of' or 'similar to'.

'apterygote' entered English from New Latin 'Apterygota' (a taxonomic grouping), which itself derives from Greek 'apterygōtós' formed from the privative prefix 'a-' ('without') + 'pterygon' ('wing'). The element 'like' descends from Old English 'līc' and evolved into the Modern English suffix '-like'; the modern compound 'apterygote-like' arose by combining these elements in recent English usage.

Initially, the root 'apterygote' denoted 'wingless' in a taxonomic or descriptive sense; over time the compound 'apterygote-like' came to mean 'resembling or having characteristics of apterygotes' rather than strictly denoting taxonomic membership.