'non-indictable' originates from the prefix 'non-' meaning 'not' and the word 'indictable' which comes from the Latin 'indictare', meaning 'to declare' or 'to proclaim'.

'indictare' transformed into the Old French word 'enditer', and eventually became the modern English word 'indict' through Middle English.

Initially, 'indictable' meant 'able to be declared or proclaimed', but over time it evolved into its current legal meaning of 'subject to being formally charged with a crime'.