The term 'front-square rear-round' (pronounced zenpo koen in Japanese) was first used in "Sanryoshi" written by a Japanese classical scholar of the Edo Period, Kunpei GAMO, in the early nineteenth century.
「前方後円」の語は、江戸時代の国学者蒲生君平が19世紀初めに著した『山陵志』で初めで使われた。