'non-methoxybenzoyl' is a compound formed in modern chemical English from three parts: the prefix 'non-' (from Latin 'non', meaning 'not'), 'methoxy' (a chemical coinage from 'methyl' + 'oxy', indicating a -OCH3 group), and 'benzoyl' (a chemical group name derived from 'benzoin' + the suffix '-yl').

'benzoyl' developed in 19th-century chemical nomenclature from 'benzoin' (a resin name adopted into New Latin/French) with the radical-forming suffix '-yl'; 'methoxy' arose later as a systematic name combining 'methyl' and 'oxy'; 'non-' has long been used in English as a negative prefix. These parts were concatenated in modern organic nomenclature to form 'non-methoxybenzoyl'.

Initially, the components referred separately to 'not' (non-), the methoxy substituent (-OCH3), and the benzoyl radical; together as 'non-methoxybenzoyl' the term now specifically denotes a benzoyl group (or derivatives) lacking a methoxy substituent.