'antimins' originates from Medieval Latin (or Medieval ecclesiastical usage), specifically from a form like 'antiminsium' or 'antimension', ultimately from Greek elements (anti- + a term related to 'mensa'/'table') where 'anti-' meant 'in place of' and the root referred to 'table' or 'altar'.

'antimins' entered English via Medieval Latin/Church Slavonic forms such as 'antiminsium' / 'antiminsion' and through usage in Eastern Christian liturgical contexts became the English term 'antimins' (also seen as 'antimension').

Initially the compound conveyed the sense of 'in place of the table' (i.e., a cloth serving as the altar's surface); over time it came to denote specifically the consecrated cloth containing relics and authorized by a bishop for use at the altar.