'anti-narrative' is a compound of the prefix 'anti-' and the noun 'narrative'. 'anti-' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'anti' (ἀντί), where 'anti' meant 'against, opposite'. 'narrative' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'narrativus', from 'narrare' meaning 'to tell'.

'narrative' changed from Latin 'narrare' (to tell) into Late Latin 'narrativus', passed into Old French and Middle English as forms meaning 'relating to telling' and eventually became the modern English word 'narrative'. The prefix 'anti-' comes from Greek 'anti' and entered English via Latin and French prefixes.

Initially, elements meant 'against' (anti-) and 'relating to telling' (narrative). Over time the compound came to mean specifically a story or stance that opposes or challenges another story — i.e., 'a counter-story' or the quality of being opposed to a given narrative.