Non-
prefix ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Used in the sense of no or none, to show lack of or failure to perform; or in the sense of not, to negate the meaning of the word to which it is prefixed. morpheme
"nonpayment (“lack of payment, failure to pay”)"
- 2 prevocalic form of nona- morpheme
- 3 Used in the sense of no or none, to show lack of or failure to perform; or in the sense of not, to negate the meaning of the word to which it is prefixed.; Not, the negation of the root word (a quality). morpheme
"nonaboriginal"
- 4 Used in the sense of no or none, to show lack of or failure to perform; or in the sense of not, to negate the meaning of the word to which it is prefixed.; Absence, the absence of the root (a quantity). morpheme
"nonaccountability"
- 5 Used in the sense of no or none, to show lack of or failure to perform; or in the sense of not, to negate the meaning of the word to which it is prefixed.; Avoiding an action. morpheme
"nonabiding"
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- 6 Used in the sense of no or none, to show lack of or failure to perform; or in the sense of not, to negate the meaning of the word to which it is prefixed.; Neutral in quality. morpheme
"nonaccent"
Example
More examples"nonpayment (“lack of payment, failure to pay”)"
Etymology
From Middle English non- (“not, lack of, failure to”), from Middle English non (“no, not any; not, not at all”, literally “none”) and Old English nān- (prefix), both from Old English nān (“no, not any”), from Proto-West Germanic *nain, from Proto-Germanic *nainaz (“none, nought, zero”), see none. Merged with and reinforced by Middle English non- (“not”), from Old French non- and Medieval Latin nōn (“not”), from Old Latin noinu, noinom, from ne oinom (“not one”).
From Latin nona (“nine”).
Related phrases
More for "non-"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.