'anti-phagocytic' is formed in Modern English from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti' meaning 'against') combined with 'phagocytic' (from Greek 'phagein' meaning 'to eat' + Modern formation '-cytic' relating to 'cell').

'phagocytic' derives from Greek 'phagein' (to eat) and was incorporated into scientific English in the late 19th century (via coinages such as 'phagocyte' and 'phagocytosis'); the combining form 'anti-' was added to form 'anti-phagocytic' to indicate opposition to that process.

Initially the roots referred to 'eating' or 'cell that eats'; over time in biomedical usage they came to denote the cellular process 'phagocytosis', and 'anti-phagocytic' came to mean 'opposing or inhibiting that process'.