'asthmatoid' originates from New Latin and Greek, specifically from the combining element 'asthma-' (from Greek 'ásthma') meaning 'panting, short breath' and the suffix '-oid' (from Greek 'oidḗs') meaning 'resembling'.

'asthmatoid' was formed in medical/Scientific usage by joining 'asthma' (Greek 'ásthma' → Latin 'asthma') with the Greek-derived suffix '-oid' (from 'oidḗs'), producing a term meaning 'resembling asthma' that entered English via New Latin/late 19th–early 20th century medical vocabulary.

Initially it meant 'resembling or like asthma' and over time has retained that specialized meaning of 'asthma-like' in clinical and descriptive contexts.