'non-predicative' originates from Modern English, specifically formed from the prefix 'non-' and the adjective 'predicative', where 'non-' meant 'not' and 'predicative' is built from Latin elements related to 'praedicare' ('to proclaim').

'predicative' comes from Latin 'praedicativus' (from 'praedicare' 'to proclaim'), passed into Late Latin and then into Middle English as 'predicate'/'predicative'; the productive English prefix 'non-' (from Old English/Latin 'non') was later attached to form 'non-predicative'.

Initially related to 'predicate' (i.e., relating to or serving as a predicate); with the prefix 'non-' it came to mean 'not predicative'—that is, not serving as a predicate—used in descriptive grammatical terminology.