non-

See also: non, nón, nőn, and Non.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɒn/
• IPA^(key): /ˈnɑn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Etymology 1

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”).

Prefix

non-

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.

   nonpayment (“lack of payment, failure to pay”)

   nonaggressive (“not aggressive”)

Usage notes

• Non- may be attached to nouns (nonspace), adjectives (nonaggressive), adverbs (nonaggressively, nonstop), or—infrequently—even verbs (nontender).
• The prefix non- may be joined to a word by means of a hyphen, which is standard in British usage. In many cases, especially in American usage, non- is joined without a hyphen. (For example, nonbaseball is relatively common, but noncricket, referring to a primarily British sport, is rare.) Some non- words rarely or never use a hyphen (such as nonentity). By contrast, un- is almost always spelled without a hyphen.
• Semantically, non- suggests objective quality and logical opposition (hence ungradable), whereas un- suggests subjective quality and polar/diametric opposition (often gradable).
• Meaning "not" in phrases taken from Latin and some other languages, non is a separate word and is not hyphenated: non compos mentis, persona non grata.
• As non- is a living prefix, the list of words having the prefix non- is practically unlimited. It is particularly common in the sciences.

Synonyms

• (not): a-, an-, dys-, i-/il-/im-/in-/ir-, mal-, un-

Derived terms

English terms prefixed with non-

Related terms

Related terms

• an-
• anti-

• in-
• no

• non
• none

• not
• un-

Translations

not

• Afrikaans: nie-
• Armenian: ոչ (hy) (očʻ), չ- (čʻ-), ան- (an-)
• Catalan: no- (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不 (zh) (bù-), 非 (zh) (fēi-), 無／无 (zh), 无 (zh) (wú-)

• Czech: ne- (cs), mimo-
• Dutch: niet-
• Esperanto: ne-
• Finnish: ei- (fi), epä- (fi)
• French: non- (fr)
• Georgian: არა- (ara-), არ- (ar-)
• German: nicht- (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: μη (el) (mi)
• Ido: ne-
• Irish: mí-, neamh-
• Japanese: 非 (ja) (hi-), 不 (ja) (fu-), 無 (ja) (mu-)
• Korean: 불(不) (ko) (bul), 비(非) (ko) (bi), 무(無) (ko) (mu)
• Polish: nie- (pl)
• Portuguese: não- (pt)
• Russian: не- (ru) (ne-)
• Scottish Gaelic: mì-, neo-
• Spanish: no (es), des- (es), in- (es)
• Swedish: icke- (sv), o- (sv)
• Ukrainian: не- (uk) (ne-)

Etymology 2

From Latin nona (“nine”).

Prefix

non-

1. prevocalic form of nona-

Derived terms

• nonad
• nonet
• nonuplet

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Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnʌn/, /ˈnʌnˀ/, /nʌnˈ/

Prefix

non-

1. non-

Derived terms

Danish terms prefixed with non-

References

• “non-” in Den Danske Ordbog

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /noːn/

• Audio:

  (file)

Prefix

non-

1. (organic chemistry) non-

Derived terms

Dutch terms prefixed with non-

See also

• Category:nl:Hydrocarbon chain prefixes

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Indonesian

Etymology

From English non-, from Middle English non- (“not, lack of, failure to”), from Middle English non (“no, not any; not, not at all”, literally “none”), from Old English nān (“no, not any”), 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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈnɔn]
• Hyphenation: non

Prefix

non-

1. non-: 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.

Derived terms

Indonesian terms prefixed with non-

Further reading

• “non-” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.