'anthologise' originates from English, ultimately from Greek, specifically the word 'anthologia', where 'anthos' meant 'flower' and 'legein' meant 'to gather'.

'anthologise' changed from the Greek word 'anthologia' into Medieval/Latin and Old French forms 'anthologie', later becoming the modern English noun 'anthology', from which the verb 'anthologise' was formed (by adding the verb-forming suffix '-ise'/'-ize').

Initially it referred to 'a collection of flowers' (literal meaning of 'anthologia'); over time it came to mean 'a collection of literary extracts' and later the verb developed the meaning 'to select and collect works into an anthology'.