'isopod-like' originates from English, specifically formed from the noun 'isopod' + the suffix '-like' (from Old English 'līc'/'-līc'), where '-like' meant 'having the form or characteristics of'.

'isopod' entered scientific and then common English from Modern Latin 'Isopoda' (a taxonomic name), ultimately from Greek 'isópous' (ἰσόπους), where 'isos' meant 'equal' and 'pous' (poús) meant 'foot'. The suffix '-like' traces to Old English 'līc' meaning 'body, form' and developed into the adjectival suffix '-like'.

Initially, 'isopod' referred in taxonomy to 'animals with equal feet'; over time it came to denote the common animals (e.g. woodlice), and 'isopod-like' evolved to mean 'resembling an isopod' in general usage.