'anti-immigrant' is a modern English compound formed from the prefix 'anti-' and the noun 'immigrant'. 'anti-' comes ultimately from Greek 'anti-' meaning 'against' (via Latin/Old French), and 'immigrant' comes from Late Latin 'immigrans/immigratus' from 'immigrare' meaning 'to move into'.

'immigrant' entered English via Old French and Late Latin from Latin 'immigrare' (in- 'into' + migrare 'to move'), and the prefix 'anti-' entered English from Greek through Latin/Old French. The compound 'anti-immigrant' arose in modern English (19th–20th century) as political vocabulary describing opposition to immigration.

Initially the parts meant 'against' and 'a person who moves in', but combined in modern usage the compound came to mean 'opposed to immigrants or immigration' and is used to describe attitudes, policies, or people opposing immigration.