'antitemperance' originates from English, formed by the prefix 'anti-' (against) + 'temperance' (moderation/abstinence).

'temperance' comes from Old French 'temprance' and Medieval Latin 'temperantia', from Latin 'temperare' meaning 'to mix in proportion, moderate'. The compound 'anti-' + 'temperance' arose in usage particularly around the 19th century in contexts discussing the temperance movement, producing the term 'antitemperance' to denote opposition.

Initially, 'temperance' meant 'moderation' or 'self-restraint' broadly; with the 19th-century temperance movement it narrowed to the campaign for alcohol abstinence. 'Antitemperance' therefore came to mean specifically opposition to that movement or to enforced abstinence, though it can also mean opposition to moderation more generally.