'archeopteryx' originates from Greek (via New Latin), specifically the Greek elements 'arkhaios' and 'pteryx', where 'arkhaios' meant 'ancient' and 'pteryx' meant 'wing' or 'feather'.

'archeopteryx' entered scientific Latin as 'Archaeopteryx' in the 19th century (coined for the genus described in 1861) and was adopted into English usage as the taxonomic name for these early bird fossils.

Initially, it literally meant 'ancient wing' as a descriptive scientific name for the fossil genus; that core meaning remains, though the term is also sometimes used figuratively to denote something primitive or archaic.