'anti-market' originates from Modern English, formed by combining the prefix 'anti-' (via Greek 'anti' meaning 'against') and the noun 'market' (from Old French 'marché', ultimately from Latin 'mercatus' meaning 'trade' or 'market').

'market' changed from Old French 'marché' (from Late Latin 'mercatus') into Middle English 'market' and then into the modern English form 'market'; 'anti-' came into English from Greek via Latin/Medieval borrowings, meaning 'against', and in Modern English it is commonly used as a productive prefix to form compounds such as 'anti-market'.

Initially, 'market' primarily referred to a physical 'place of trade', but over time its meaning broadened to cover economic systems and mechanisms; combined with 'anti-' the compound came to denote opposition to market systems or market-based policies rather than merely opposition to a specific marketplace.