'arteriography' originates from New Latin/Greek, specifically from Latin/Greek elements 'arteria' (artery) and Greek 'graphia' (writing/recording), where 'arteria' meant 'artery' and 'graphia' meant 'writing' or 'recording'.

'arteriography' developed from medical New Latin 'arteriographia' (formed from 'arteria' + 'graphia') and was adopted into English in modern medical usage to denote imaging of arteries; the suffix '-graphy' comes from Greek 'graphia' which entered Latin and then English as the combining form '-graphy' meaning 'recording' or 'representation'.

Initially it denoted the act of recording or depicting arteries ('writing/recording arteries'), and it has evolved to specifically mean the radiographic imaging technique (and the images produced) used to visualize arteries with contrast media.