'non-endoscopic' is formed by attaching the prefix 'non-' (from Latin 'non', meaning 'not') to 'endoscopic', which ultimately comes from Greek elements meaning 'within' ('endon') and 'to look' ('skopein').

'endoscopic' entered English via New Latin/medical coinage from Greek ('endon' + 'skopein') in the 19th century to name instruments and procedures for looking inside the body; the prefix 'non-' was later attached in modern medical English to create 'non-endoscopic' to denote procedures not using endoscopy.

Initially, the root elements described 'looking inside' (endoscopy as an inspecting action); over time 'endoscopic' came to denote both the instruments and the procedures, and 'non-endoscopic' developed to mean 'not using those instruments or procedures.'