'morphopathological' originates from Greek combining forms 'morpho-' and 'patho-' plus the adjective-forming element '-logical' (from Greek 'logos'), where 'morpho-' meant 'form', 'patho-' meant 'suffering' or 'disease', and 'logos' meant 'study' or 'discourse'.

'morphopathological' was formed in modern scientific English by combining 'morpho-' (from Greek 'morphē') and 'patho-' (from Greek 'pathos') with the suffix '-logical' (via New Latin/Modern English formations like 'pathological'), producing an adjective meaning 'relating to the form/structure of disease'.

Initially the roots referred broadly to 'form' and 'disease' and the idea of 'study of disease forms'; over time the compound came to mean specifically 'relating to the structural changes caused by disease' in medical and biological contexts.