acupuncturist (n.)

1680s, "pricking with a needle" as a surgical operation to ease pain, from Latin acus "a needle" (from PIE root *ak- "be sharp, rise (out) to a point, pierce") + puncture. The verb is recorded by 1972.

word-forming element meaning "one who does or makes," also used to indicate adherence to a certain doctrine or custom, from French -iste and directly from Latin -ista (source also of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian -ista), from Greek agent-noun ending -istes, which is from -is-, ending of the stem of verbs in -izein, + agential suffix -tes.

Variant -ister (as in chorister, barrister) is from Old French -istre, on false analogy of ministre. Variant -ista is from Spanish, popularized in American English 1970s by names of Latin-American revolutionary movements.