'non-anginal' originates from the prefix 'non-' (from Latin 'non' meaning 'not', via Old French/Old English use of the negative prefix) combined with 'anginal', which derives from Latin 'angina' (from Greek 'ankhein').

'angina' comes from Greek 'ankhein' meaning 'to choke/strangle', passed into Latin as 'angina' and into English as 'angina'; the adjective 'anginal' developed from 'angina', and the productive negative prefix 'non-' was later attached to form 'non-anginal'.

Initially 'angina' described a choking or strangling sensation; over time it came to denote the chest pain syndrome now called angina pectoris, and 'non-anginal' developed to mean 'not of that cardiac (anginal) type'.