'archdeceiver' originates from English, specifically combining the prefix 'arch-' (from Greek 'arkh-' where 'archi-' meant 'chief' or 'principal') and 'deceiver' (from Latin 'decipere', where 'decip-' meant 'to ensnare or cheat').

'archdeceiver' was formed in post-medieval English by compounding 'arch-' with 'deceiver' (itself from Latin 'decipere' via Old French and Middle English) and has appeared in religious and polemical texts in Early Modern English and later.

Initially, it referred chiefly to a 'chief deceiver'—often applied to the Devil in theological usage—but over time it has come to be used more broadly for any exceptionally deceptive person or figure.