'anti-establishment' originates from English, combining the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti') meaning 'against' and 'establishment' (from English 'establish', originally from Old French 'establir' and Latin 'stabilire') meaning 'to set up; make stable'.

'establishment' developed from Old French 'establir' and Latin 'stabilire' into Middle English 'establish', and later 'the Establishment' came to mean the dominant social or political order (especially from the 19th–20th centuries); the prefix 'anti-' was attached in modern English to form the compound 'anti-establishment' to describe opposition to that order.

Initially, 'establishment' referred to the act or result of establishing; over time it came to mean the established power structure, and 'anti-establishment' evolved to mean opposed to that power structure or mainstream authority.