'antiketogenic' originates from Modern English, formed by prefixing 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti-' meaning 'against') to 'ketogenic' (from 'ketone' + '-genic'), where 'ketone' refers to the chemical class and '-genic' comes from Greek 'genēs' meaning 'producing'.

'ketogenic' developed in 19th–20th century biochemical nomenclature from 'ketone' + '-genic'; 'antiketogenic' was later formed by combining the productive prefix 'anti-' with 'ketogenic' to indicate opposition to ketone production.

Initially, 'ketogenic' meant 'producing ketone bodies'; 'antiketogenic' was coined to mean 'against or inhibiting the production of ketone bodies', a logical negation rather than a major semantic shift.