'arrowhead' originates from English compounds: the word 'arrow' (from Old English for the weapon) combined with 'head' (Old English 'heafod', meaning 'head').

'arrowhead' changed from Middle English forms such as 'arwehed' (a compound of 'arwe' + 'hed') and eventually became the modern English word 'arrowhead'.

Initially, it meant 'the head or tip attached to an arrow'; over time it also came to be used for 'any object or shape resembling the tip of an arrow'.