'archetypic' originates from New Latin, specifically the word 'archetypicus', where the Greek prefix 'archē-' meant 'beginning, original' and 'typos' meant 'impression, pattern'.

'archetypic' developed from the Greek word 'archetypos' (ἀρχέτυπος) which passed into Late Latin/Modern Latin as 'archetypus'/'archetypicus' and was adopted into English as 'archetype' with the adjectival suffix '-ic' forming 'archetypic'.

Initially it referred to the 'original model or pattern' (the archetype itself); over time the adjective came to mean 'having the characteristics of that model' or 'serving as a typical example.'