'arseniferous' originates from New Latin/Late Latin, specifically from the element 'arsenicum' (from Greek 'arsenikon') meaning 'arsenic' combined with the Latin suffix '-ferous', where 'ferre' meant 'to bear'.

'arseniferous' was formed in New/Scientific Latin by combining 'arsenicum' + '-ferous' (e.g. 'arseniferus' in Neo-Latin forms) and was later adopted into English in roughly the 18th–19th century scientific vocabulary as 'arseniferous'.

Initially it meant 'bearing or containing arsenic' in scientific/chemical contexts, and this basic meaning has been retained in modern usage.