'anti-rape' is a compound of the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti', meaning 'against') and the noun 'rape' (ultimately from Latin 'rapere', meaning 'to seize', transmitted into English via Old French).

'rape' changed from Latin 'rapere' ('to seize') into Old French forms and then into Middle English 'rape', where its senses shifted toward 'sexual violation'; the modern compound 'anti-rape' was formed in contemporary English by combining the productive prefix 'anti-' with 'rape' to denote opposition to rape.

Initially, Latin 'rapere' meant 'to seize'; over time 'rape' in English came to denote sexual violation, and 'anti-rape' developed to mean 'opposed to or campaigning against rape/sexual violence'.