'asthmogenic' originates from modern scientific English formation combining 'asthma' with the suffix '-genic' (from Greek 'γενής, genēs'), where 'genēs' meant 'producing' or 'born of'.

'asthmogenic' was formed by combining the noun 'asthma' (ultimately from Greek 'ásthma') with the Greek-derived suffix '-genic' (compare New Latin/adapted forms such as 'asthmogenicus'), entering English medical and scientific usage in the 19th–20th centuries.

Initially it literally meant 'producing or causing asthma'; over time the meaning has remained essentially the same and is used to describe agents, exposures, or conditions that can cause or provoke asthma.