'antitragus' originates from New Latin/Modern Latin, ultimately from Ancient Greek elements 'anti-' and 'trágos', where 'anti-' meant 'opposite' and 'trágos' meant 'goat' (the latter giving the name 'tragus' to a part of the ear).

'antitragus' entered scientific/medical usage via New Latin (Neo-Latin) anatomical terminology and was adopted into English as the anatomical name for the ear prominence opposite the 'tragus'.

Initially it literally meant 'opposite the tragus' (using Greek components), and over time this lexical meaning has been retained as the anatomical name for that specific ear structure.