'antipathogenic' originates from Greek elements, specifically 'anti-' and 'pathos' and 'genēs', where 'anti-' meant 'against', 'pathos' meant 'suffering, disease', and 'genēs' meant 'born' or 'producing'.

'antipathogenic' is a modern English formation (20th century) combining the prefix 'anti-' with 'pathogenic' (itself from Greek roots via Neo-Latin), forming a technical medical adjective meaning 'against pathogens'.

Initially coined to denote properties or agents acting against pathogens ('against producing disease'), and over time it has retained this technical medical meaning of 'inhibiting or preventing pathogen action'.