'anti-democracy' originates from the Greek prefix 'anti-' and the Greek word 'dēmokratia', where 'anti-' meant 'against', 'dēmos' meant 'people', and 'kratos' meant 'rule'.

'democracy' came from Greek 'dēmokratia' (dēmos + kratos), passed into Latin and Old French, entered Middle English as 'democracie' and eventually became modern English 'democracy'. The prefix 'anti-' is from Greek 'antí' and was combined with English 'democracy' in modern usage to form 'anti-democracy'.

Initially, 'dēmokratia' meant 'rule by the people' and 'anti-' meant 'against'; combined, the term has meant 'against rule by the people' and has maintained that core sense in modern usage.