'arylamino' originates from modern chemical nomenclature (New Latin/combining forms), specifically by combining the element 'aryl' and 'amino', where 'aryl' referred to an aromatic-hydrocarbon radical and 'amino' meant 'derived from ammonia'.

'aryl' was formed in the 19th century as a derivative of 'arene' with the suffix '-yl' to denote radicals; 'amino' derives from 'amine' (coined in the 19th century from 'ammonia'). The combining form 'arylamino-' developed in 20th-century chemical nomenclature to name substituents and functional groups.

Initially the components referred separately to an 'aromatic radical' and to 'an ammonia-derived group'; over time the combined form came to denote specifically 'an amino group bonded to an aryl ring' used as a substituent name in organic chemistry.