'hypothenar' originates from New Latin/modern medical Latin, specifically the word 'hypothenar', where Greek prefix 'hypo-' meant 'under' and Greek 'thenar' meant 'palm (of the hand)'.

'hypothenar' was formed by combining the Greek elements 'hypo-' and 'thenar' into New Latin as 'hypothenar' and later adopted into modern English anatomical usage as 'hypothenar'.

Initially, the components meant 'under the palm'; over time the combined term came to denote specifically 'the fleshy eminence on the ulnar side of the palm' or anything relating to that area.