'non-carbohydrate' originates from English, formed by the negative prefix 'non-' (from Latin 'non' meaning 'not') attached to 'carbohydrate'. 'Carbohydrate' itself derives from 19th-century scientific usage (originally French 'hydrate de carbone'), built from Latin 'carbo' ('coal, carbon') and Greek 'hudōr' (ὕδωρ, 'water').

'carbohydrate' was coined in the 19th century as a translation of French 'hydrate de carbone' ('hydrate of carbon'); English later formed compounds with the negative prefix 'non-' to create 'non-carbohydrate', meaning 'not a carbohydrate'.

Initially 'carbohydrate' referred to chemical compounds viewed as 'hydrates of carbon' (carbon + water). Over time the term stabilized to mean sugars, starches, and related compounds; 'non-' then simply negates this category to indicate 'not a carbohydrate'.