'pathological-anatomical' originates from English, specifically from the combination of 'pathological' and 'anatomical', where 'patho-' comes from Greek 'pathos' meaning 'suffering, disease' and 'anatom-' comes from Greek 'anatomē' meaning 'dissection'.

'pathological' derives via Medieval Latin/Modern Latin from Greek 'pathos' and Greek '-logia' (study), while 'anatomical' comes from Greek 'anatomē' (from ana- 'up' + temnein 'to cut'); the two adjectives have been combined in modern English usage to describe matters pertaining to diseased structure or morbid anatomy.

Initially, the components referred separately to 'disease/suffering' and to 'dissection/structure'; over time the compound has come to denote specifically the anatomical features or findings associated with disease (i.e., morbid anatomical changes).