'atomizer' originates from English, specifically formed from the verb 'atomize' plus the agent suffix '-er'. 'atomize' ultimately comes from Greek, specifically the word 'atomos', where 'a-' meant 'not' and 'tomos' meant 'to cut (or cuttable)'.

'atomos' (Greek) passed into scientific Latin and then into French as 'atomiser'/'atomize'; English adopted 'atomize' in the 17th–18th centuries and later formed the agent noun 'atomizer' to denote a device that atomizes.

Initially related to the idea of 'uncuttable' or indivisible (from 'atomos'), the sense shifted to 'to divide into very small particles' and then to devices that produce a fine spray; today 'atomizer' usually means a device that creates a mist or spray from a liquid.