'anti-ovulatory' originates from the combining form 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti' meaning 'against') + 'ovulatory', where 'ovulatory' derives from Latin 'ovulum' (diminutive of 'ovum') meaning 'egg' and the verb-forming/ adjectival elements that produced 'ovulate'/'ovulatory'.

'ovulate' and 'ovulatory' come via Neo-Latin from Latin 'ovulum' ('small egg') and the verb/adjectival formations in Latin; the prefix 'anti-' entered English from Greek via Latin and was productively combined with medical/biological bases in modern English to form compounds like 'anti-ovulatory' in 20th-century medical usage.

Initially composed literally as 'against ovulation', the compound has retained that literal sense and is used specifically to describe drugs, agents, or effects that prevent ovulation.