'arbitragist' originates from French, specifically the word 'arbitrage', where 'arbitre' (from Latin 'arbiter') meant 'judge', and the suffix '-ist' denoted 'person who practices'.

'arbitragist' developed by combining the French-derived English noun 'arbitrage' (the act of arbitration or, in finance, exploiting price differences) with the English agent-forming suffix '-ist' to mean a person who carries out arbitrage.

Initially related to 'arbitrage' in the sense of judgment or settlement, the term shifted in financial contexts to mean trading to profit from price differences; 'arbitragist' therefore came to mean 'a person who conducts arbitrage'.