'antimacassar' originates from English, specifically the elements 'anti-' and 'Macassar' (the latter from the place name 'Makassar' in Indonesia), where 'anti-' meant 'against' and 'Macassar' referred to the hair oil named after Makassar.

'antimacassar' changed from the nineteenth-century hyphenated form 'anti-Macassar' (used in reference to protection against Macassar oil) and eventually became the single-word modern English 'antimacassar'.

Initially, it meant 'a cloth placed over furniture to protect against Macassar oil'; over time this meaning has remained essentially the same and broadened to protection from general dirt and wear.