'anti-antibody' is a modern English compound combining the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek anti- meaning 'against, opposed to') with 'antibody' (a biomedical coinage meaning a protein that acts against an antigen).

'antibody' itself was formed in modern scientific English (late 19th to early 20th century) from Greek-derived 'anti-' + English 'body' (referring to a bodily substance). 'anti-antibody' arose later as a descriptive compound in immunology to mean 'an antibody against an antibody'.

Initially the elements meant 'against' (anti-) and 'body' (a bodily substance); over time the compounded scientific terms came to mean 'a protein produced to act against a specific target', and 'anti-antibody' specifically evolved to mean 'an antibody directed against another antibody'.