'antiblackism' originates from Modern English, formed from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti' meaning 'against'), the adjective 'black' (Old English 'blæc'), and the suffix '-ism' (from Greek '-ismos' via Latin and French, indicating a system, ideology, or practice).

'anti-' (Greek) combined with 'black' produced the compound 'anti-Black' in English usage from the 19th–20th centuries; in academic and activist discourse the suffix '-ism' was appended to create the noun 'antiblackism' to name the ideology/system, gaining currency in the 20th century.

Initially used to describe opposition or hostility toward Black people at the individual level, over time the term has expanded in scholarly and activist use to denote systemic, institutional, and ideological forms of discrimination as well as personal prejudice.