'arecaidine' originates from Modern New Latin/chemical nomenclature formed from 'areca' (the name of the areca or betel nut) combined with the chemical suffix '-idine' used in alkaloid and heterocycle names.

'areca' entered English from Portuguese 'areca', itself borrowed from Malayalam 'arakam'; the specific coinage 'arecaidine' arose in the 19th century as chemists named and described alkaloids isolated from the areca nut.

Initially English 'areca' referred to the betel/areca nut; over time the derived formation 'arecaidine' came to denote a distinct chemical alkaloid isolated from that nut.