'arteriectasia' originates from New Latin/modern medical formation, combining the element 'arteri-' (from Greek 'arteria', meaning 'artery') and the suffix '-ectasia' (from Greek 'ektasis', meaning 'extension' or 'dilation').

'arteria' is a Latin borrowing from Greek ἀρτηρία ('arteria'), and Greek 'ektasis' ('extension') produced medical compounds in Late Latin and New Latin; these elements were joined in modern medical terminology to form 'arteriectasia'.

Initially the Greek root 'ektasis' meant 'extension' or 'stretching'; in medical use the combined form came to denote pathological dilation of a vessel, and this specific meaning ('dilation of an artery') is retained in modern usage.