'arolia' originates from New Latin, specifically the word 'arolium', where the suffix '-ium' indicated a noun form (a small structure or part).

'arolia' (as the plural of 'arolium') entered scientific English usage via New/Modern Latin in the 18th–19th centuries, borrowed into entomological terminology to name the small adhesive pads on insect feet.

Initially a term formed in New Latin to denote a small anatomical structure ('arolium'), it became established in entomology to refer specifically to the adhesive pads between or above insect claws; the meaning narrowed to this anatomical sense.