'appraiser' originates from Anglo-French/Old French, specifically the Old French verb 'aprecier' (also seen as Anglo-French 'apreiser'), where the elements are ultimately related to Latin 'pretium' meaning 'price' (with a prefix meaning 'to' or 'toward').

'appraiser' changed from Old French 'aprecier' (meaning 'to value, estimate') into Middle English forms such as 'apreisen'/'appreisen' and eventually became the modern English noun 'appraiser' derived from the verb 'appraise'.

Initially, it meant 'to set a price or estimate value'; over time it retained this central sense and developed the related noun meaning 'one who appraises' (a professional estimator of value).