'astragaloscaphoid' originates from New Latin/Modern anatomical formation, combining Greek 'astragalos' and Greek 'skaphos' (via Latin 'scaphoid'), where 'astragalos' meant 'ankle bone' and 'skaphos' meant 'boat' (hence 'scaphoid' = 'boat-shaped'), and the suffix '-oid' (from Greek 'eidos') meant 'resembling' or 'having the form of'.

'astragaloscaphoid' evolved from earlier hyphenated/anatomical forms such as 'astragalo-scaphoid' or Latinized variants used in anatomical descriptions; it was formed by direct compounding of the Greek roots in modern anatomical nomenclature and adopted into English medical usage without major change.

Initially it referred specifically to the relation between the 'astragalus' and the 'scaphoid' bones; over time the term retained that precise anatomical meaning and is still used to describe that joint or relation.