'antrotympanitis' is built from combining forms in New Latin/medical terminology: 'antro-' from Greek 'antron' meaning 'cave, cavity' (antrum), 'tympan-' from Greek 'tumpanon' meaning 'drum' (tympanum), and the suffix '-itis' from Greek '-itís' meaning 'inflammation'.

'antrotympanitis' formed in modern medical nomenclature by combining 'antro-' + 'tympan-' + '-itis' to denote inflammation involving both antral and tympanic structures; it is a compound created in post-classical medical Latin/English rather than inherited from a single older common-word ancestor.

Initially the components signified 'antrum' and 'drum' respectively; combined with '-itis' the term came to mean specifically 'inflammation of the antrum and tympanum' in clinical contexts.