'blastula' originates from New Latin, specifically the Greek root 'blastos' and the Latin diminutive suffix '-ula', where 'blastos' meant 'germ, sprout' and '-ula' meant 'little'.

'blastula' formed in New Latin from the Greek root 'blastos' plus the Latin diminutive '-ula' and was adopted directly into English as 'blastula'.

Initially, it evoked the idea of a 'small bud/sprout-like form', but it came to denote specifically the early embryonic 'hollow-sphere stage' known in mammals as the blastocyst stage.