'antiphrasis' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'ἀντιφρασίς (antiphrasís)', where 'anti-' meant 'against' and 'phrasis' meant 'speaking' or 'expression'.

'antiphrasis' passed into Late Latin as 'antiphrasis' and was later borrowed into English (early modern period) with little change in form.

Initially, it meant 'speaking against' or 'opposite speaking', and over time it came to mean specifically the rhetorical use of a word in an opposite sense for effect.