'antrotympanic' originates from New Latin and Greek, combining the Latin 'antrum' (from Greek 'ántron') meaning 'cave, cavity' and the Greek 'tympanon' meaning 'drum' (used for the eardrum), with the English adjectival suffix '-ic'.

'antrum' entered Late Latin from Greek 'ántron'; Greek 'tympanon' passed into Latin as 'tympanum' and produced the adjective 'tympanic' in medical Latin. The compound formation 'antrotympanic' arose in New Latin/medical usage to describe relationships between the antrum and tympanic cavity and was adopted into English medical vocabulary in the 19th–20th centuries.

Initially the components referred separately to a cavity ('antrum') and to the drum-like tympanum; over time the compound came to be used specifically for relations or disease processes involving both the mastoid antrum and the tympanic cavity (middle ear).