'nonchromogenic' originates from the English prefix 'non-' (meaning 'not') combined with 'chromogenic', which itself ultimately comes from Greek 'chroma' meaning 'color' and Greek root 'genēs' meaning 'born/producing'.

'chromogenic' was formed in modern scientific/technical English from Greek elements ('chroma' + '-genic') via New Latin/scientific coinage; the negative prefix 'non-' was later attached in English to create 'nonchromogenic' meaning 'not chromogenic'.

Initially, the root 'chromogenic' meant 'producing color'; 'nonchromogenic' therefore originally and still means 'not producing color' (i.e., lacking pigment production).