'anti-novel' is a compound formed from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'antí', meaning 'against, opposed to') and 'novel' (from English 'novel', ultimately from Italian 'novella' and Latin 'novellus', meaning 'new').

'novel' evolved from Latin 'novellus' ('new, young') to Italian 'novella' (a short story or news) and then to English 'novel' meaning a long fictional prose narrative; the prefix 'anti-' comes from Greek 'antí' via Latin and French usage. The compound 'anti-novel' emerged in the 20th century to name works opposing conventional novel forms.

Initially, 'novel' related to the idea of 'newness' and later came to mean a long fictional narrative; 'anti-novel' originally meant a work 'against' the established novel and has come to denote various experimental, non-traditional narrative practices.