'anilinophobia' originates from a modern coinage combining 'anilino-' (from 'aniline') and the Greek element 'phobia' from 'phobos' meaning 'fear'. 'Aniline' itself is named from Portuguese/Spanish 'anil' (indigo), ultimately from Sanskrit 'nīla' meaning 'dark blue/indigo'.

'anil' (Portuguese/Spanish) came via Arabic forms (e.g. al-nīl) from Sanskrit 'nīla' meaning 'indigo'; in the early 19th century chemists coined 'aniline' for the amine derived from indigo-related materials; the organic-chemistry prefix 'anilino-' was formed from 'aniline'; later this prefix was combined with the Greek-derived suffix '-phobia' to produce the modern coinage 'anilinophobia' to denote a specific fear of that chemical or its derivatives.

The original elements referred to 'indigo' (anil) and 'fear' (phobos); when combined in modern scientific/coinage usage they produce the specialized meaning 'fear of aniline or its compounds', a semantic formation rather than a historically attested traditional word.