non-

Usage notes

• 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.
• Non- may be attached to nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs to negate their meaning.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Derived terms

• nonad
• nonet
• nonuplet