'arsenate' originates from modern chemical usage formed from the element name 'arsenic' + the chemical suffix '-ate' (from Latin '-atus' via French '-ate'), where 'arsen-' refers to arsenic and '-ate' denotes a salt or ester.

'arsenate' developed in Modern English from the element name 'arsenic' (from Late Latin 'arsenicum', from Greek 'arsenikon') combined with the suffix '-ate' used in chemistry to form names of salts and esters; the element name passed through Latin and Old/French forms before the modern English term was coined.

Initially the roots referred to the arsenic substance or compounds related to arsenic; over time the term became specialized in chemistry to mean specifically a salt or ester of arsenic acid (including the arsenate ion AsO4^3−).