'non-ape' originates from the prefix 'non-' and the word 'ape'. 'non-' comes from Latin 'non', where 'non' meant 'not'; 'ape' comes from Old English 'apa', where 'apa' meant 'ape'.

'ape' changed from Old English word 'apa' (from West Germanic sources) and eventually became the modern English word 'ape'. The compound 'non-ape' is a modern English formation using the productive prefix 'non-'.

Initially, 'ape' meant 'ape' in the sense of the simian animal; 'non-' has consistently meant 'not', and together the modern compound means 'not an ape'.