'auripigment' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'auripigmentum', where 'auri-' (from 'aurum') meant 'gold' and 'pigmentum' meant 'pigment'.

'auripigmentum' (Latin) was borrowed into Medieval/Old French and produced variants such as 'orpiment'; through Middle English this gave the common name 'orpiment', while 'auripigment' survives as a learned or archaic form.

Initially, the term literally meant 'gold pigment' (referring to the bright yellow color); over time it came to be used specifically for the arsenic sulfide mineral and the pigment prepared from it.