'arbovirus' originates from English, specifically as an abbreviation of 'arthropod-borne virus', where the element 'arbo-' was formed from the initial letters of 'arthropod-borne'. 'arbovirus' originates from English, specifically as an abbreviation of 'arthropod-borne virus', where 'arbo-' was formed from the initial letters of 'arthropod-borne'.

'arbovirus' was coined in the 20th century (around the 1940s) as a convenient contraction of 'arthropod-borne virus' and became established in medical and epidemiological literature.

Initially, it meant 'arthropod-borne virus', and over time it has largely retained that meaning, though modern virology has refined taxonomic groupings and the term is sometimes used informally rather than as a strict taxonomic category.