'arthrodire' originates from New Latin, ultimately from Ancient Greek: specifically the Greek roots 'arthron' and 'deirē', where 'arthron' meant 'joint' and 'deirē' meant 'neck'.

'arthrodire' derives from the New Latin taxonomic name 'Arthrodira' (formed from Greek roots), and was adapted into English as 'arthrodire' to refer to an individual member of that group.

Initially the compound described the anatomical feature 'jointed neck' (the jointed plates between head and thorax); over time it came to be used as the name for members of the taxonomic group Arthrodira.