'anti-streptococcal' originates from Greek and New Latin elements: 'anti-' (Greek) meaning 'against' and 'streptococcus' (New Latin) from Greek 'streptos' and 'kokkos', where 'streptos' meant 'twisted' and 'kokkos' meant 'berry'.

'anti-' (Greek) was combined with New Latin 'streptococcus' (coined in the 19th century from Greek roots 'streptos' + 'kokkos'), and the English adjectival suffix '-al' produced 'streptococcal'; prefixing with 'anti-' produced the modern English 'anti-streptococcal'.

Initially the components meant 'against' + 'twisted berry (a name for the bacteria)'; over time the compound came to mean specifically 'against or effective versus streptococcal bacteria' in medical contexts.