'antielectron' originates from a modern scientific coinage combining the Greek prefix 'anti-' and the word 'electron' (from Greek 'ēlektron'), where 'anti-' meant 'against, opposite' and 'ēlektron' meant 'amber' (the source of electric phenomena).

'antielectron' was coined in English scientific literature in the early 1930s by attaching the prefix 'anti-' to 'electron' (itself coined in the late 19th century from Greek 'ēlektron' via New Latin). After the discovery of the positron in 1932, 'antielectron' appeared in early papers, but the term 'positron' later became the standard name.

Initially it meant 'the antiparticle of an electron'; over time the preferred term in physics shifted to 'positron', although 'antielectron' still denotes the same particle (a positively charged electron).