'antineologian' originates from the combining prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti-' meaning 'against') and a formation related to 'neologian', itself derived from 'neologism' (from Greek 'neos' 'new' + 'logos' 'word').

'neologism' comes from Greek 'neologismos' ('neos' + 'logos'), entered scholarly and literary use via Latin and French; the agentive formation '-ian' (as in 'logian'/'neologian') and the prefix 'anti-' were later combined in English to form 'antineologian' as a coined term describing opponents of neologisms.

Initially built to mean 'against neologisms' in a literal compositional sense, it has remained narrowly used to label people or attitudes opposing linguistic innovation; its use has remained specialized and somewhat rare.