'antihierarchal' originates from modern English, specifically a compound of the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti') and the adjective 'hierarchal' ultimately from the Greek word 'hierarchia', where 'anti-' meant 'against' and 'hierarchia' meant 'rule of priests' or 'sacred rule'.

'hierarchia' passed into Latin and Old French as 'hierarchie', then into Middle English as 'hierarchie' and became modern English 'hierarchy' and the adjective 'hierarchal'; the productive prefix 'anti-' was attached in modern English to form 'antihierarchal'.

Initially related to opposition to a 'rule of priests' or sacred ordering, the combined form came to mean general opposition to ranked or layered systems and now denotes opposing hierarchical structures in social or organizational contexts.