'antimedical' originates from a combination of the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti') and the adjective 'medical' (from Latin 'medicus'), where 'anti-' meant 'against' and 'medicus' meant 'physician'.

'medical' changed from Latin 'medicus' to Old French forms and then to Middle and modern English 'medical'; the prefix 'anti-' was borrowed from Greek via Latin/Old French usage and was combined with 'medical' in modern English to form the compound 'antimedical'.

Initially, the elements meant 'against' + 'physician/medicine'; over time the compound came to mean broadly 'opposed to medicine' or 'opposed to mainstream medical practice', a sense that has remained in modern usage.