'orbiculate-leaved' originates from modern English, formed from 'orbiculate' + 'leaved', where 'orbiculate' ultimately derives from Latin 'orbicula' (diminutive of 'orbis') meaning 'little disk' or 'circle', and 'leaf' comes from Old English 'lēaf' meaning 'leaf'.

'orbiculate' came into English via Late Latin/Medieval Latin 'orbiculatus' (from 'orbicula'), and 'leaf' evolved from Old English 'lēaf' to modern English 'leaf'; the adjectival compound '-leaved' is a productive Modern English formation (e.g. 'round-leaved', 'egg-leaved'), producing 'orbiculate-leaved'.

Initially, the Latin element referred to a 'small disk' or 'little circle'; combined in English as 'orbiculate' it described a disk- or circle-like shape, and in the compound 'orbiculate-leaved' the meaning evolved to 'having circular leaves'.