'non-normativity' originates from English, specifically the prefix 'non-' (ultimately from Latin 'non') meaning 'not', combined with 'normativity' which is formed from 'norm' (from Latin 'norma') plus the abstract noun suffix '-ity'.

'norm' comes from Latin 'norma' meaning 'carpenter's square' or 'rule'; 'normative' developed in post-medieval European languages to mean 'relating to a rule'; 'normativity' arose as an abstract noun in modern English; attaching the negative prefix 'non-' produced 'non-normativity', a term that became more common in late 20th-century academic and critical theory contexts.

Initially the elements referred to 'a rule' ('norma') and the state 'being normative'; over time the compound 'non-normativity' evolved to denote not just the absence of conformity but a theoretical concept describing structural, cultural, or discursive conditions that resist or fall outside norms.