The Spanish word 'pesetero' comes from combining 'peseta' (the former Spanish currency) with the agent suffix '-ero'. The word 'peseta' itself has an interesting history - it comes from the Catalan word 'peceta' meaning 'small piece', which in turn derives from the Catalan word 'peça' meaning 'piece'. The term evolved to specifically refer to a coin, and when combined with '-ero' (which typically indicates someone who does or deals with something), it came to describe someone who is overly concerned with money or money-grubbing.

Several common Spanish words share this etymology. The word 'peso' (meaning 'weight' or referring to various Latin American currencies) is related, as it also derives from the concept of a piece or portion. The suffix '-ero' is extremely common in Spanish and appears in words like 'panadero' (baker), 'zapatero' (shoemaker), and 'cartero' (mailman), all following the same pattern of describing someone who works with or deals with the root noun.

While English doesn't have direct cognates of 'pesetero', we can find related words through the Latin root 'pensa' (meaning 'weight'). This gives us English words like 'peso' (borrowed from Spanish) and more distantly 'pence' (British currency). The concept of pieces or weights being used as currency measurements is common across many languages.