'acarari' originates from the Tupi language, specifically the word 'akarári', where 'akará' meant 'bird' and '-ri' was a diminutive suffix.

'akarári' was adopted into Portuguese as 'acarari', and eventually became the modern English word 'acarari'.

Initially, it meant 'small bird', but over time it evolved into its current meaning of a specific bird species.