'anti-story' originates from a combination of Greek and Old French/Latin elements: the prefix 'anti-' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'antí', where 'antí' meant 'against'; 'story' originates from Old French, specifically the word 'estoire', from Latin 'historia', where 'estoire/historia' meant 'account, narrative'.

'story' changed from Latin 'historia' to Old French 'estoire' and Middle English 'storie', eventually becoming modern English 'story'. The combining prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'antí') became productive in Modern English to form compounds; 'anti-story' emerged in literary and critical contexts as a compound describing narratives that oppose conventional storytelling.

Initially the elements meant 'against' + 'narrative'; over time the compound has come to denote a specific literary concept: a work that subverts or refuses traditional story conventions rather than a simple 'opposition' to any story.