'anticorrosion' is formed from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'antí', meaning 'against') + the noun 'corrosion' (from Latin 'corrosio'), where 'antí-' meant 'against' and 'corrosio' related to 'gnawing away'.

'corrosion' comes from Latin 'corrosio' (from 'corrodere' 'to gnaw at'), passed into Old French and Middle English as 'corrode/corrosion'; the combining form 'anti-' (from Greek) was later attached in Modern English to create compounds like 'anti-corrosion' and the unhyphenated 'anticorrosion'.

Initially the elements meant 'against' + 'gnawing away' (literal prevention of being eaten away); over time it came to mean 'preventing deterioration or rust' in industrial and chemical contexts.