'aspidium' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'aspidion', where 'aspis' meant 'shield' and the diminutive suffix '-ion' meant 'little'.

'aspidion' passed into Latin as 'aspidium' and was adopted in botanical Latin as a genus name for certain ferns; later taxonomic revisions transferred many species to genera such as 'Dryopteris'.

Initially it meant 'little shield' (a descriptive form), but over time it evolved into the botanical name for a genus of ferns.