'archway' originates from Modern English, formed by combining the noun 'arch' and the noun 'way'. 'Arch' ultimately comes from Latin 'arcus' meaning 'bow' or 'arc', and 'way' comes from Old English 'weg' meaning 'path' or 'road'.

'archway' developed in Modern English as a compound of 'arch' (borrowed into Old French as 'arche' from Latin 'arcus') and the Old English 'weg'/'way'. The element 'arch' passed through Old French and Middle English before combining with 'way' in English to form 'archway'.

Initially, the elements meant 'arc' or 'bow' (for 'arch') and 'path' or 'road' (for 'way'); over time the compound 'archway' came to mean specifically an entrance or passage formed by an arch rather than simply any curved shape or any path.