'cotyledon' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'kotylēdōn' (κοτυλήδων), where 'kotylē' meant 'cup' or 'small cup'.

'cotyledon' changed from Greek 'kotylēdōn' into Late Latin/New Latin 'cotyledon' and was adopted into English in technical botanical usage as 'cotyledon'.

Initially, the Greek-derived term referred to a 'cup-shaped' structure; over time it became specialized in botany to mean the 'seed leaf' of an embryo.