'gamma-nonhemolytic' originates from a combination of terms: 'gamma' from Greek 'gamma' (the third letter, used in microbiology to denote no visible hemolysis), 'non-' from Latin 'non' meaning 'not', and 'hemolytic' from New Latin/Greek 'haima' (blood) + 'lysis' (loosening, destruction).

'hemolytic' entered English via medical New Latin from Greek elements (haima + lysis) as 'haemolyticus'/'hemolytic', and the classifier 'gamma' (used in bacteriology to denote no hemolysis) was later combined with the negative prefix 'non-' to form the compound adjective now written as 'gamma-nonhemolytic'.

Initially, related terms focused on the process of blood-cell breakdown ('hemolytic' = causing lysis of blood cells). Over time, the classifier 'gamma' in bacteriology came to specifically denote 'no hemolysis', so the compound 'gamma-nonhemolytic' now denotes 'showing no hemolysis'.