'devastator' originates from Latin, specifically the verb 'devastare', where the prefix 'de-' acted as an intensifier and 'vastare' meant 'to lay waste'.

'devastator' changed from Late Latin and Old French forms (e.g. Late Latin 'devastator', Old French 'devastateur') and eventually entered modern English as 'devastator' by way of the verb 'devastate'.

Initially it meant 'one who lays waste' or 'an agent that lays waste', but over time it evolved into the broader modern sense of 'a person or thing that causes extensive destruction' and extended metaphorically to non-physical forms of overwhelming damage.