'spiritist' originates from French, specifically the word 'spiritiste', where 'spirit-' (from Latin 'spiritus') meant 'breath, spirit' and the suffix '-ist' meant 'one who practices or is concerned with'.

'spiritist' changed from French word 'spiritiste' (and from the mid-19th-century coinage 'spiritism' used in English and French) and eventually became the modern English word 'spiritist'.

Initially, it meant 'a follower of the doctrine of spiritism' (a believer in spiritist doctrine), but over time it evolved into its current meaning of 'a person who believes in or practices communication with spirits'.