'non-amide' originates from English, specifically the prefix 'non-' and the noun 'amide', where 'non-' meant 'not' (from Latin 'non') and 'amide' referred to the chemical 'amide' (from French 'amide', ultimately based on 'amine' + the chemical suffix '-ide').

'non-amide' was formed in modern English by combining the productive negative prefix 'non-' with the chemical noun 'amide'. The word 'amide' itself entered scientific English in the 19th century from French 'amide' (and German 'Amid'), which was coined from 'amine' with the suffix '-ide.'

Initially it simply meant 'not an amide' in a literal, descriptive sense; over time it has been used consistently in chemical contexts to denote substances or conditions lacking an amide functional group.