'anti-capitalist' originates from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti') meaning 'against' and the word 'capitalist' (from 'capital') where 'capital' traces to Latin 'caput' meaning 'head' or, by extension, 'wealth'.

'capital' came into English via Old French 'capitale' from Latin 'caput'; the modern noun 'capitalist' arose in the 19th century to denote supporters of the capitalist system, and 'anti-' has long been used as a combining form in English to create oppositional adjectives and nouns (e.g. 'anti-war'); these combined to form 'anti-capitalist' (and its plural 'anti-capitalists').

Initially, components meant 'against' (anti-) and 'capital/wealth' (capital); over time the compound came to mean specifically a person or position opposed to the economic and social system of capitalism.