'anti-kinase' originates from modern English, formed by the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti') meaning 'against' and the component 'kinase' (formed from Greek 'kinein' meaning 'to move' plus the enzyme suffix '-ase').

'anti-kinase' arose in 20th-century biomedical English by combining the productive prefix 'anti-' with 'kinase' (the latter coined as a name for a class of enzymes in modern biochemistry from Greek roots and the -ase suffix).

Initially the parts meant 'against' (anti-) and referred to enzymes related to motion or activity (kinein → kinase); over time 'anti-kinase' came to be used specifically for agents that inhibit kinase enzymes in pharmacology and molecular biology.