'aspergillosis' originates from New Latin, specifically the word 'Aspergillus' (the fungal genus) combined with the Greek suffix '-osis', where 'Aspergillus' derived from Latin 'aspergillum' meaning 'holy water sprinkler' (from Latin 'aspergere' 'to sprinkle') and '-osis' meant 'disease/condition'.

'aspergillosis' developed as a medical coinage formed from the genus name 'Aspergillus' (coined in the 18th century for the mold) plus the Greek-derived suffix '-osis'; this formation became established in modern English medical terminology in the 19th–20th centuries.

Initially connected to the fungal genus name and the appearance of the mold, the term evolved to denote specifically the disease or pathological conditions caused by Aspergillus species.