'non-fimbriated' originates from Latin elements: the prefix 'non-' (from Latin 'non') meaning 'not', combined with 'fimbriate' which ultimately goes back to Latin 'fimbria' meaning 'fringe' or 'fringe-like appendage'.

'fimbriate' developed in scientific/technical English from Latin 'fimbria' via New Latin and Late Latin usages referring to fringe-like structures; the modern adjective 'fimbriate' (and its negated form 'non-fimbriated') arose in English medical and biological contexts in the 18th–19th centuries.

Initially related to the literal 'fringe' (a border or edge), it evolved in scientific usage to mean 'having fringe-like projections'; 'non-fimbriated' thus came to mean 'lacking those projections'.