'arsenide' originates from modern chemical formation combining the word 'arsenic' with the suffix '-ide' (used to form binary compounds).

'arsenic' comes from Medieval/Latin 'arsenicum', from Greek 'arsenikon' (related to 'arsenikos'); the chemical suffix '-ide' was adopted in modern nomenclature to name binary compounds, producing 'arsenide' for compounds of arsenic.

Initially, 'arsenic' referred to the element (and related substances); with systematic chemical naming, 'arsenide' came to mean specifically a compound containing arsenic or the As^3− ion.