In the Indo-European language that was the ancestor of English, Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit, the root meaning "to join" was "yug-." One peculiarity of Indo-European is the insertion of an "n" in the middle of the root in certain forms. That peculiarity manifested itself in the Latin jungere meaning "to join." The past participle of "jungere" is junctus, which developed into the Spanish junto, meaning "joined."

The history of junta in English dates back to the early 17th century. English speakers borrowed the feminine version of junto from Spanish; the Spanish ancestor literally meant "together; joined." In English, junta can also mean "junto" (a group of persons joined for some common purpose).