Etymology

anti-

an·ti

Today it means: Against, opposed to. Full definition →

Ancient Greek ἀντι- (anti-) ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti
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anti- · prefix1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ent-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énts
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énti
  4. Ancient Greekᾰ̓ντῐ́ (ăntĭ́)
  5. Ancient Greekἀντι- (anti-)
  6. English todayanti-

From Ancient Greek ἀντι- (anti-, “against”). Cognate with Old English and- (“against, in return, back, un-”), German ent- (“off, away, un-”). Doublet of ante- and un-.

anti- · prefix2

  1. Italian · derived fromanti-
  2. English todayanti-

Probably largely from association with etymology 1, either in English or in French, although some early formations (especially antichamber) reflect Italian anti-.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.