'nonpreceding' originates from the English prefix 'non-' (meaning 'not') combined with 'preceding', the present participle of 'precede' (from Latin 'praecedere'), where 'non-' meant 'not' and 'praecedere' meant 'to go before'.

'precede' comes from Latin 'praecedere' (from prae- 'before' + cedere 'to go'), passed into Old French as 'precéder' and Middle English as forms such as 'preceden' before becoming modern English 'precede'; 'non-' is a productive English prefix of later origin used to negate adjectives and participles, forming 'nonpreceding'.

Initially the root sense was 'to go before' (Latin); the compound 'nonpreceding' has been formed in modern English to mean 'not going before' or 'not earlier', a straightforward negation of the original temporal/ordering sense.