'de-anglicisation' originates from English as a compound combining the prefix 'de-' (from Latin 'de', meaning 'off, away') and 'anglicisation' (formed from French/English elements ultimately from Latin 'Anglicus', meaning 'English').

'anglicisation' developed via French (angliciser/anglicisation) and English from Latin 'Anglicus' ('English'); the prefix 'de-' (Latin) was later attached in modern English to indicate reversal, producing 'de-anglicisation' in 20th-century English usage.

Initially related to 'making English' (anglicisation) and to the Latin root meaning 'English'; with the prefix 'de-' the compound came to mean 'the removal or undoing of English influence,' a sense that has been maintained in modern usage.