'starter' originates from the verb 'start' (Middle English 'starten'), with the agent-forming suffix '-er' meaning 'one who or that which starts.'

'start' came into English via Middle English 'starten' (to leap up, begin suddenly), possibly imitative in origin; adding '-er' produced 'starter' for an agent or thing that begins, and the plural became 'starters.'

Initially it meant 'one who begins or causes a sudden movement,' and over time it broadened to mean 'a person or thing that begins' including dishes at the beginning of a meal, starting players, and devices that start engines.