'anti-libidinal' originates from a combination of the Greek prefix 'anti' and the Latin word 'libido'. Specifically, 'anti' (Greek) meant 'against' and 'libido' (Latin) meant 'desire' or 'lust', with the adjectival element '-al' forming 'libidinal'.

'libido' was a Latin word meaning 'desire'; it entered English as 'libido' and later produced the adjective 'libidinal' (via the adjectival suffix). The compound 'anti-libidinal' emerged in modern English usage, especially in psychoanalytic and critical contexts, to denote being opposed to libidinal impulses.

Initially it could be read simply as 'against desire', but over time it has taken on a more specialized psychoanalytic and socio-cultural sense of 'opposed to or suppressing libidinal/sexual drives'.