'non-activating' is formed from the prefix 'non-' (from Latin 'non', meaning 'not') combined with 'activating', the present participle of 'activate' (from Latin roots).

'activate' comes from Latin 'activare' (from 'activus' meaning 'active', itself from Latin 'agere'/'actus' meaning 'to do' or 'driven'); Middle French and Late Latin forms influenced the transition into Middle English and modern English; the negative prefix 'non-' was attached in modern English to form compounds like 'non-activating'.

The component 'activate' originally meant 'to make active' (from Latin) and has retained that core meaning; adding the prefix 'non-' creates the modern adjectival sense 'not causing activation'.