'pamprodactylous' originates from Greek, specifically from the elements 'pan-/pam-' (from Greek 'πᾶν' pan, meaning 'all') and 'dáktylos' (Greek 'δάκτυλος', meaning 'finger, toe'), with the English adjectival suffix '-ous'.

'pamprodactylous' was formed as a scientific/New Latin compound (e.g. 'pamprodactylus'/'pamprodactyly') in zoological terminology and was adopted into English usage in ornithology in the 19th–20th century.

Initially coined to describe the toe arrangement (literally 'all-toed'), it has remained a technical term in ornithology with the same core sense of 'having toes all directed forward' (sometimes allowing for a reversible outer toe).