also antichoice, by 1978, American English, in reference to opposition to legalized abortion; from anti- + choice (n.). Compare pro-life.
Entries linking to anti-choice
anti-
word-forming element of Greek origin meaning "against, opposed to, opposite of, instead," shortened to ant- before vowels and -h-, from Old French anti- and directly from Latin anti-, from Greek anti (prep.) "over, against, opposite; instead, in the place of; as good as; at the price of; for the sake of; compared with; in opposition to; in return; counter-," from PIE *anti "against," also "in front of, before" (from root *ant- "front, forehead," with derivatives meaning "in front of, before"), which became anti- in Italian (hence antipasto) and French.
It is cognate with Sanskrit anti "over, against," and Old English and- (the first element in answer). A common compounding element in Greek, in some combinations it became anth- for euphonic reasons. It appears in some words in Middle English but was not commonly used in English word formations until modern times. In a few English words (anticipate, antique) it represents Latin ante.
In noun compounds where it has the sense of "opposed to, opposite" (Antichrist, anti-communist) the accent remains on the anti-; in adjectives where it retains its old prepositional sense "against, opposed to," the accent remains on the other element (anti-Christian, anti-slavery).
choice n.
mid-14c., "that which is choice," from choice (adj.) blended with earlier chois (n.) "action of selecting" (c. 1300); "power of choosing" (early 14c.), "the person or thing chosen" (late 14c.), from Old French chois "one's choice; fact of having a choice" (12c., Modern French choix), from verb choisir "to choose, distinguish, discern; recognize, perceive, see," which is from Frankish or some other Germanic source and related to Old English ceosan "to choose, taste, try" (from PIE root *geus- "to taste; to choose").
Late Old English chis "fastidious, choosy," from or related to ceosan, probably also contributed to the development of choice. Choice replaced Old English cyre "choice, free will," from the same base, probably because the imported word was closer to choose [see note in OED].
pro-life adj.
"opposed to abortion," attested by 1976, from pro- + life. Used earlier in a more general sense of "enhancing life." Hostile alternative anti-choice is attested by 1978 in Ms. magazine (compare pro-choice).
What hypocrisy to call such anti-humanitarian people 'pro-life.' Call them what they are — antichoice. [Ms., Oct. 8, 1978]