'arteriotome' originates from New Latin/modern medical formation, ultimately from Greek: specifically the Greek word 'arteria' (meaning 'artery') combined with Greek 'tome' (from 'temnein'), where 'temnein' meant 'to cut'.

'arteriotome' was formed in Neo-Latin/medical terminology by combining Greek elements ('arteria' + 'tome') in the 19th century medical literature and eventually entered modern English unchanged as 'arteriotome'.

Initially it meant 'an instrument for cutting an artery', and over time it has retained essentially the same specialized surgical meaning.