'asteriscus' originates from Medieval Latin, ultimately from Greek 'asteriskos', where 'aster-' meant 'star' and '-iskos' was a diminutive suffix meaning 'small'.

'asteriskos' (Greek) passed into Medieval Latin as 'asteriscus'; the form influenced the English 'asterisk' and 'asteriscus' has remained as a learned or archaic variant in English.

Initially it meant 'little star' (a small star-shaped object); over time it came to be used primarily for the typographical reference mark now called an 'asterisk'.