'prepygidial' originates from Latin and Greek, specifically the prefix 'pre-' (from Latin 'prae') meaning 'before' and 'pygidium' (from Greek 'pygidion') meaning 'rump' or 'rear part'.

'prepygidial' formed by combining the Latin prefix 'pre-' with the New Latin/Greek-derived anatomical term 'pygidium' used in zoological and entomological Latin; the element 'pygidium' entered scientific English from Greek via New Latin, and the compound form 'pre-pygidial' later stabilized as 'prepygidial' in descriptive anatomy/entomology.

Initially it literally meant 'before the pygidium' as a positional descriptor; it has retained this specialized anatomical meaning in modern biological usage.