'anti-sterility' originates from English combining the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'antí' meaning 'against') and 'sterility' (from Latin 'sterilis' meaning 'barren' or 'uncultivated').

'anti-' was borrowed into English via Latin and French from Greek 'antí'; 'sterility' comes from Latin 'sterilis', passed into Old French and Middle English as forms like 'sterile'/'sterilite', and developed into modern English 'sterility'. The compound 'anti-sterility' is a modern English formation using the productive prefix 'anti-'.

Initially the roots conveyed 'against' and 'barren'; the modern compound has come to mean 'against barrenness/infertility' or more practically 'preventing sterility' in medical and biological contexts.