'antiphrase' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'antiphrasis', where 'anti-' meant 'against' and 'phrasis' meant 'speaking'.

'antiphrase' changed from the Greek word 'antiphrasis' into Latin as 'antiphrasis', passed into Old French as 'antiphrase', and eventually entered modern English as 'antiphrase' (with the related form 'antiphrasis').

Initially it meant 'speaking against' or 'opposite speaking', but over time it evolved into the modern rhetorical sense of 'using a word or phrase in the opposite sense, often for ironic effect'.