'nonagricultural' originates from Modern English, formed by the negative prefix 'non-' (from Latin 'non', meaning 'not') combined with 'agricultural', which derives from Latin 'agricultura' (from 'ager' meaning 'field' + 'cultura' meaning 'cultivation').

'agricultural' developed from the noun 'agriculture' (Latin 'agricultura'); in Modern English the prefix 'non-' was added to create the adjective 'nonagricultural'.

Initially, 'agricultural' meant 'pertaining to the cultivation of fields'; with the addition of the prefix 'non-', 'nonagricultural' came to mean 'not relating to agriculture'.