'aquilia' originates from Latin, specifically the name of the gens 'Aquilius' (or related to 'Aquila'), where 'Aquila' meant 'eagle' and the family-name form gave rise to the law's name.

'aquilia' arose as the name of the statute 'Lex Aquilia' (named after a proposer from the Aquilius family) in classical Latin; the term persisted in medieval and legal Latin and was borrowed into English legal-historical usage as 'Aquilia' to refer to the law or the action derived from it.

Initially it referred specifically to the law named after the Aquilius proposer ('Lex Aquilia'); over time it came to denote the broader legal concept and remedies (the Aquilian action) dealing with wrongful damage and liability.