'anticrepuscular' originates from a combination of the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti', meaning 'against' or 'opposite') and the adjective 'crepuscular' (from Latin 'crepusculum', meaning 'twilight'), with English adjectival formation.

'anticrepuscular' was formed in modern English by adding the productive prefix 'anti-' to 'crepuscular' (itself from Latin 'crepusculum' via French/Latin-derived English), producing the compound adjective 'anticrepuscular'.

Initially the elements literally conveyed 'against/opposite twilight'; over time the compound has come to have the specific technical meaning 'relating to rays opposite the sun at twilight' rather than a more general 'against twilight'.