'antiskid' originates from Greek and English elements: the prefix 'anti-' (Greek 'antí') meaning 'against' and the English word 'skid' (from Middle English 'skid', ultimately related to Old Norse 'skíð' meaning 'piece of wood, plank' which later gave senses connected with sliding).

'skid' developed in English from Middle English 'skid' (and influences from Old Norse 'skíð'), acquiring the sense 'to slide' by usage; the prefix 'anti-' was combined in modern English (as 'anti-skid' and later 'antiskid') to describe measures 'against skidding'. The present-participle form 'antiskidding' arose by regular morphological addition of '-ing' to 'antiskid'.

Initially elements referred to 'against' (anti-) and 'skid' (originally a plank or object, later 'to slide'); over time the compound came to mean 'intended to prevent sliding or skidding', a technical sense that developed with braking and traction technology.