'assembler' originates from Old French, specifically the word 'assembler', where the prefix 'ad-' (later assimilated) meant 'to/toward' and the root 'simulare' (from Latin) meant 'to make like' or 'to join together'.

'assembler' changed from Old French 'assembler' into Middle English (forms such as 'assemblen'/'assemble') and eventually became the modern English word 'assembler'.

Initially, it meant 'to bring together' (the action). Over time it evolved to refer also to 'one who assembles' (person or device) and, in the 20th century, to computing programs that translate assembly language into machine code.