'anticapitalist' originates from Modern English, formed from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti' meaning 'against') and the word 'capitalist' (from French 'capitaliste', ultimately from Latin 'capitale' from 'caput' meaning 'head' or 'property').

'anticapitalist' changed from combining the prefix 'anti-' with the noun 'capitalist'. 'Capitalist' itself changed from French 'capitaliste' and earlier from Latin 'capitale' (related to 'caput'), and eventually became the modern English 'capitalist', after which 'anticapitalist' developed to denote opposition to capitalism.

Initially it meant 'against capital' in a literal morphological sense, but over time it evolved into the specific meaning 'opposed to capitalism as an economic and political system.'