'antiaristocrat' originates from a combination of the prefix 'anti-' from Greek 'anti-' meaning 'against' and the noun 'aristocrat' (from Greek 'aristokratēs' via Latin and Old French), where 'aristo-' meant 'best' and '-crat/ -krates' meant 'rule' or 'ruler'.

'antiaristocrat' was formed in English by compounding 'anti-' + 'aristocrat'. The element 'aristocrat' itself comes from Greek 'aristokratēs' which passed into Latin and Old French before Middle and Modern English; the compound usage as a political descriptor appears in modern English (notably in the 18th–19th centuries) to label opposition to aristocratic rule.

Initially and historically it has meant 'someone opposed to aristocrats or aristocratic rule'; this basic meaning has largely remained stable, used to describe political or social opposition to aristocracy.