'anti-vascularization' originates from modern English, specifically combining the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti-' meaning 'against') with 'vascularization' (from 'vascularize' + suffix '-ation') where 'vascular' derives from Latin 'vasculum'/'vas' meaning 'vessel'.

'vascularization' developed from the adjective 'vascular' (from Latin 'vasculum' via Late Latin and Medieval Latin forms) with the verb-forming suffix '-ize' and the noun-forming suffix '-ation'; 'anti-' was attached as a productive prefix in modern medical English to form 'anti-vascularization'.

Initially the roots referred simply to 'vessel' and the act of forming vessels; over time the combined modern term came to specifically mean 'the process or strategy of preventing blood-vessel formation', a usage that has been stable in medical contexts.