'archidiaconate' originates from Medieval Latin, specifically the word 'archidiaconatus', where the prefix 'archi-' meant 'chief' and the element 'diacon-' (from Greek 'diakonos') meant 'servant' or 'minister'.

'archidiaconate' changed from the Medieval Latin word 'archidiaconatus', which itself derives from Greek 'arkhidiakonos' ('arkhi-' + 'diakonos'), and eventually entered English as 'archidiaconate' via Late Latin/Old French ecclesiastical usage.

Initially, elements of the word conveyed the sense 'chief servant' or 'principal minister'; over time it came to denote specifically the 'office or jurisdiction of an archdeacon' in ecclesiastical contexts.