'antiredepositional' is a compound formed from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek, meaning 'against'), the prefix 're-' (from Latin, meaning 'again'), and 'depositional' (from Latin 'deponere' via English 'deposition', meaning 'to put down').

'deposit' derives from Latin 'deponere' ('de-' meaning 'down' + 'ponere' meaning 'to place'); this became Old French/Latin-derived forms like 'deposition' and then English 'deposition'. The verb 'redeposit' (to deposit again) and the noun 're-deposition' developed by adding the prefix 're-'; 'antiredepositional' is a modern English adjectival formation combining 'anti-' with 'redepositional'.

The components originally referred to 'placing down' or 'doing again' (from Latin roots), but in modern technical usage the compound has come to mean 'having the property of preventing that re-depositing process' rather than describing the act of depositing.