'antiheliotropically' is a modern English formation built from Greek elements: 'anti-' (Greek) meaning 'against' or 'opposite', 'heli(o)-' from Greek 'hēlios' meaning 'sun', 'trop-' from Greek 'trepein' meaning 'to turn', plus the English adjectival/ adverbial suffixes '-ic' and '-ally'.

'antiheliotropically' developed from the adjective 'antiheliotropic' (English), which in turn comes from the New Latin/English usage of Greek roots 'anti-' + 'heliotrop-' (seen in words like 'heliotropism' from Greek 'hēlios' + 'trepein'). Over time these elements were combined in English to form 'antiheliotropic' and then the adverb 'antiheliotropically'.

Initially the component roots described 'turning' relations to the sun (literally 'turning against the sun'); in modern usage the composite has retained that core sense and is used to describe the tendency or manner of turning away from sunlight.