'antimetropia' originates from Neo-Latin/medical Latin, ultimately from Greek: composed of the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'ἀντί') meaning 'opposite' and the element 'metropia' (related to Greek 'metron' meaning 'measure' and the ophthalmic element '-opia'/'-ops' for 'vision').

'antimetropia' was coined in modern medical terminology as a compound of Greek elements ('anti-' + the ophthalmic root related to 'metron'/'opia') and entered English usage via Neo-Latin/medical Latin in the late 19th to 20th century to describe opposing refractive errors between the two eyes.

Initially formed to convey the idea of 'opposite measurement,' the term came to have the specific clinical meaning of 'a condition in which the two eyes have refractive errors of opposite sign (one myopic, one hyperopic).'