'isopteran' originates from New Latin 'Isoptera', ultimately from Greek 'isos' and 'pteron', where 'isos' meant 'equal' and 'pteron' meant 'wing'.

'isopteran' was formed in modern taxonomic English from the New Latin term 'Isoptera' (derived from Greek elements) by adding the adjectival/noun-forming suffix '-an', yielding the English word 'isopteran'.

Initially the Greek components described 'equal wings' (a morphological observation); over time the term came to denote the group of insects (termites) and things relating to them.