'antinihilism' originates from the modern combining of the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti') and the noun 'nihilism' (from Latin 'nihil'), where 'anti-' meant 'against' and 'nihil' meant 'nothing'.

'nihilism' comes from Latin 'nihil' ('nothing') and developed into the philosophical term 'nihilism' in the 19th century; English then formed compounds and oppositional terms using the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek) to create 'antinihilism' as a term denoting opposition to that doctrine.

Initially used simply to mark opposition to the idea of 'nothing' or meaninglessness, the term has come to denote more specifically a stance that affirms meaning, value, or moral reality in reaction to nihilistic thought.