'antiphlogistian' originates from Greek and New Latin, specifically from the prefix 'anti-' (Greek) and the word 'phlogiston' (from Greek 'phlogistos'), where 'anti-' meant 'against' and 'phlogistos' meant 'inflammable' or 'burning'.

'antiphlogistian' developed in English from the adjective 'antiphlogistic' (formed in the 18th century from 'anti-' + 'phlogistic') with the agentive suffix '-ian' to denote a person or agent, producing the noun 'antiphlogistian'.

Initially linked to opposition of 'phlogiston' concepts or to counteracting 'burning', the term came to be used chiefly in medical contexts to mean 'that which reduces inflammation' or 'a practitioner using such remedies'.