'heteromeric' originates from Greek, specifically the elements 'heteros' (meaning 'other') and 'meros' (meaning 'part'), combined in Modern English with the adjectival suffix '-ic'.

'heteromeric' was formed in modern scientific English by combining the Greek roots 'heteros' + 'meros' (via New Latin/modern coinage) to yield the adjective 'heteromeric'.

Initially the roots literally conveyed 'other-part' (i.e., composed of other/different parts); in modern usage it has become a technical term meaning 'composed of different subunits', especially in biology and biochemistry.