'antiphonetic' originates from the combining form 'anti-' (Greek) + 'phonetic' (from Greek 'phonētikos'), where 'anti-' meant 'against' and 'phonē' meant 'voice' or 'sound', with the adjectival suffix '-etic'.

'antiphonetic' was formed in Modern English by combining the Greek-derived prefix 'anti-' and the English word 'phonetic' (itself from Latin/Greek 'phoneticus' / 'phonētikos'), creating a descriptive adjective meaning 'against phonetic representation'.

Initially coined to mean 'against or not conforming to phonetic representation', the term's usage has remained narrowly descriptive in linguistic and orthographic contexts and has not undergone major semantic shift.