'countercultural' originates from English, specifically the word 'counterculture' with the adjectival suffix '-al', where 'counter-' meant 'against' and 'culture' (from Latin 'cultura') meant 'cultivation' or 'way of life'.

'counterculture' was formed in 20th-century English from the prefix 'counter-' + 'culture' (with 'culture' ultimately from Latin 'cultura' via Old French 'culture'); the adjective 'countercultural' developed from that noun to describe things relating to such movements.

Initially it meant 'relating to or characteristic of a counterculture (a cultural movement opposed to mainstream norms)' and, since its emergence around the mid-20th century (notably the 1960s), the core meaning has remained but has broadened to cover various anti-mainstream cultural tendencies.