'anti-node' is formed from the Greek prefix 'anti-' meaning 'opposite' combined with 'node', which ultimately comes from Latin 'nodus' meaning 'knot'.

'node' comes from Latin 'nodus' ('knot'), passed into English as 'node'; the compound 'anti-node' (often written 'antinode') was coined in physics (19th century usage) to denote the point opposite a node in a standing wave.

Originally a compound meaning 'opposite of a node', the term became specialized in physics to mean 'the point of maximum amplitude in a standing wave'.