'antireflexive' originates from Modern English, formed from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti') and the adjective 'reflexive' (from Latin 'reflectere'), where 'anti-' meant 'against' and 'reflectere' meant 'to bend back'.

'reflexive' came into English via Latin 'reflectere' through French/Medieval Latin as forms like 'reflexivus' and Middle English 'reflexive'; the compound with 'anti-' produced 'anti-reflexive' and then 'antireflexive' in modern usage.

Initially the components meant 'against' + 'bending back'; applied to relations or actions it came to mean 'not allowing bending-back (i.e., not relating to oneself)', which matches the modern technical sense of 'not reflexive' or 'irreflexive'.