'archvillainy' originates from the prefix 'arch-' (from Greek 'arkhē'/'arkhos' meaning 'chief, principal') combined with the noun 'villainy' (from Old French 'villainie', from Latin 'villānus' meaning 'farmhand').

'villainy' changed from Old French 'villainie' and Middle English 'vilainie' to modern English 'villainy'; the intensifying prefix 'arch-' (used in compounds to indicate 'principal' or 'extreme') was later attached in modern English to form 'archvillainy'.

Initially 'villānus' meant 'farmhand' or 'someone associated with a villa' and carried connotations of low status; over time it acquired pejorative senses ('rude, base') and then 'a wicked person'; 'archvillainy' came to mean the extreme form of such wickedness.