'non-reverberant' originates from English, specifically the prefix 'non-' (from Latin 'non') and the adjective 'reverberant', where 'non-' meant 'not' and 'reverberant' traces to Latin 'reverberare', meaning 'to strike back'.

'reverberant' changed from Latin 'reverberare' to Medieval Latin 'reverberans' and then entered English as 'reverberant'; the modern English adjective 'non-reverberant' was formed by prefixing 'non-' to 'reverberant' in technical usage (notably in 20th-century acoustics).

Initially related to the literal sense 'to strike back' (of sound or blows), the root evolved to mean 'to reflect sound' (echo/reverberation); 'non-reverberant' now specifically means 'lacking such reflected sound'.