'antichronical' originates from Greek elements 'anti-' (against) and 'khrónos' (time), combined with the English adjectival suffix '-ical'.

'anti-' and 'chron-' were used in compounds in Classical and Medieval Greek/Latin; they passed into Neo-Latin/English formation patterns, producing adjectives like 'antichronical' in English (formed by attaching '-ical' to the compound stem).

Initially it literally meant 'against time' or 'opposed to chronological sequence'; this has remained the central sense and is now used to describe ordering or relation opposite to chronological order.