'non-haemolytic' originates from Modern English, specifically formed from the prefix 'non-' and the adjective 'haemolytic', where 'non-' meant 'not' and 'haemolytic' related to 'causing the breakdown of blood cells'.

'haemolytic' comes from New Latin/medical Latin 'haemolyticus', from Greek 'haima' meaning 'blood' + Greek 'lytikos' meaning 'able to dissolve'; these entered English via Late Latin and New Latin medical terminology, and modern compounds such as 'haemolysis' and 'haemolytic' developed before being combined with the prefix 'non-'.

Initially, elements meant 'blood' (haima) and 'able to dissolve' (lytikos); over time the compound 'haemolytic' came to mean 'causing haemolysis' in medical usage, and 'non-haemolytic' therefore came to mean 'not causing haemolysis'.