'asphalter' originates from English, specifically the noun 'asphalt' combined with the agentive suffix '-er', where 'asphalt' referred to the bituminous material and '-er' meant 'one who performs an action'.

'asphalt' entered English via Latin 'asphaltus' (or 'asphaltum'), which in turn comes from Greek 'ἄσφαλτος' (asphaltos). The agentive suffix '-er' is from Old English '-ere' (from Proto-Germanic), producing the modern English agent noun 'asphalter'.

Initially, the root referred to the bituminous material ('asphalt'); over time the compound 'asphalter' came to mean 'a person who works with or lays asphalt' (the material-based sense gave rise to the agent noun).