'monoflagellate' originates from Greek and Latin, specifically the Greek word 'monos' and the Latin word 'flagellum', where the combining form 'mono-' meant 'single' and 'flagellum' meant 'whip'.

'monoflagellate' was formed in modern scientific English by combining the Greek-derived combining form 'mono-' (from 'monos') with 'flagellate' (from Latin 'flagellum' and Late Latin/Medieval forms such as 'flagellatus'), producing a term used in biology to denote organisms with one flagellum.

Initially the elements conveyed the idea of a 'single whip', but the compound came to mean specifically an organism 'having a single flagellum' (i.e., one whip-like locomotive organ).