'antidisciplinarian' originates from a modern English formation combining the prefix 'anti-' and the noun/adjective 'disciplinarian'. 'anti-' comes from Greek 'ἀντί' (anti) where 'anti-' meant 'against', and 'disciplinarian' ultimately derives from Latin 'disciplina' where 'disciplina' meant 'instruction' or 'training'.

'disciplinarian' developed from the noun 'discipline' (from Latin 'disciplina') through Middle English and later took the suffix '-arian' to form 'disciplinarian'; 'anti-' has long been used in English to form oppositional compounds, producing the modern compound 'antidisciplinarian'.

Initially the roots conveyed 'against instruction' or simply the negation 'against'; over time the compound came to be used to describe opposition specifically to strict disciplinary authority or rigid disciplinary boundaries, rather than to instruction in general.