'Araceae' originates from Neo-Latin, formed from the genus name 'Arum' plus the botanical family-forming suffix '-aceae'.

'Araceae' was created in modern botanical Latin by combining the genus name 'Arum' (from Latin 'Arum', from Greek 'aron') with the standardized family suffix '-aceae', producing the family name used in modern taxonomy.

Initially it designated relation to the genus 'Arum'; over time it came to denote the entire plant family containing Arum and related genera.