'antigonorrhoeal' originates from Greek/Neo-Latin elements, specifically the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'antí') and the word 'gonorrhoea' (from Greek 'gonorrhoia'), where 'anti-' meant 'against' and the roots 'gonos' meant 'seed' and 'rhoia' meant 'a flowing'.

'gonorrhoea' entered English via Medieval/Modern Latin 'gonorrhoea' from Greek 'gonorrhoia'; later English formed the compound 'antigonorrhoeal' by adding the prefix 'anti-' to 'gonorrhoeal' in medical usage (19th–20th century), yielding the modern term 'antigonorrhoeal'.

Initially the Greek components literally referred to a 'flow of seed', but over time the compound came to denote the disease 'gonorrhoea' and 'antigonorrhoeal' has meant 'against gonorrhoea' since its adoption into medical English.