'non-Spaniards' originates from Modern English, formed by the negative prefix 'non-' + the noun 'Spaniard', where 'non-' meant 'not' and 'Spaniard' meant 'a person from Spain'.

'Spaniard' entered English via Old French 'Espaignart' and Medieval Latin 'Hispaniardus', ultimately becoming the modern English 'Spaniard'. The prefix 'non-' comes from Latin 'non' and was used in Old English as 'nōn' to negate words.

Initially, 'Spaniard' referred to inhabitants of Hispania (the Roman province) and 'non-' simply negated; combined as 'non-Spaniards' it has long meant 'people who are not Spaniards' with little semantic change.