'arsenophenol' originates from modern scientific coinage, specifically the combination of 'arseno-' (from 'arsenic', ultimately from Greek 'arsenikon') and 'phenol' (from French 'phénol', built from 'phenyl' + the suffix '-ol'), where 'arseno-' indicates the presence of arsenic and 'phenol' denotes the phenolic (aromatic hydroxyl) group.

'arsenophenol' was formed in modern chemical nomenclature by joining the element-derived prefix 'arseno-' with the established organic name 'phenol'; it does not have a distinct medieval English ancestor and arose with systematic organic naming in the 19th–20th century.

Initially coined to denote phenolic compounds containing arsenic, the term has retained that specific chemical meaning in modern usage.