'interambulacral' originates from New Latin, formed from the prefix 'inter-' (meaning 'between') + Medieval/Scientific Latin 'ambulacrum' (meaning 'a place for walking; in zoological Latin, an area bearing ambulacra').

'interambulacral' entered scientific English from New Latin/Neo-Latin formations such as 'interambulacralis' used in anatomical and zoological descriptions, and developed into the modern English adjective 'interambulacral'.

Initially it referred specifically to anatomical regions between ambulacra in echinoderms; it has remained a specialized morphological term used in zoology with essentially the same sense.