'anti-' originates from Greek, specifically the element 'anti-' where 'anti-' meant 'against, opposite', combined with the English noun 'matter' (from Latin 'materia').

'matter' comes from Middle English 'materie', from Old French 'matiere', from Latin 'materia'. The compound 'antimatter' was coined in English in the 20th century (after the discovery of antiparticles in the 1930s) to name material made of antiparticles.

Initially coined to denote 'matter composed of antiparticles', the term's scientific meaning has remained essentially the same; it later acquired additional speculative/pop-culture senses (e.g., as an energy source) in fiction.