'non-fundamentalist' originates from English, combining the negative prefix 'non-' (from Latin 'non' meaning 'not') with 'fundamentalist.' 'Fundamentalist' is formed from 'fundamental' + the agent suffix '-ist'; 'fundamental' ultimately comes from Latin 'fundamentum' meaning 'foundation.'

'Fundamental' comes from Latin 'fundamentum' > Late Latin/Old French forms > Middle English 'fundament'; 'fundamentalist' arose in early 20th-century English to denote adherents of the 'Fundamentals' movement, and 'non-fundamentalist' was later formed by attaching the productive prefix 'non-' to mean 'not a fundamentalist' or 'not fundamentalist in outlook.'

Initially, 'fundamentalist' referred specifically to members of a Protestant movement defending certain doctrines; over time it broadened to mean anyone strictly literal or doctrinaire, and 'non-fundamentalist' came to mean 'not adhering to such literalist or doctrinaire positions' in religious, political, or cultural contexts.