'archenteric' originates from New Latin (Neo-Latin), specifically the word 'archentericus', where the prefix 'arch-' (from Greek 'archē') meant 'beginning, chief' and 'enteron' meant 'intestine'.

'archenteric' changed from the Neo-Latin adjective 'archentericus' (itself based on Greek 'archenteron') and eventually became the modern English adjective 'archenteric'.

Initially it referred specifically to the structure called the archenteron (the primitive gut); over time it evolved into the adjectival sense 'relating to the archenteron or its formation'.