'antinicotine' is formed from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti-' meaning 'against') + 'nicotine' (from the plant genus name 'Nicotiana', ultimately from French 'nicotine', named after Jean Nicot).

'Nicotine' originated from French 'nicotine' (named after Jean Nicot) and Latinized in reference to the tobacco plant 'Nicotiana'. The compound formation with the prefix 'anti-' follows a modern English pattern of creating oppositional adjectives/nouns (anti- + noun), producing 'antinicotine' in contemporary usage.

Initially 'nicotine' referred to the alkaloid named after Nicot; the compound 'antinicotine' has been coined in modern contexts to mean 'against or counteracting nicotine' and retains that specialized, oppositional sense.