'nonproliferative' originates from English combining the prefix 'non-' (from Old English 'nān' meaning 'not') with 'proliferative', which traces to Latin 'proliferare', where 'proles' meant 'offspring' and 'ferre' meant 'to bear'.

'nonproliferative' developed by prefixing English 'non-' to 'proliferative'; 'proliferative' comes from English 'proliferate' (from Latin 'proliferare' via Modern Latin), with 'proliferare' formed from Latin elements 'proles' and 'ferre', and the adjectival English form 'proliferative' led to the compound 'nonproliferative'.

Initially the Latin root related to 'bearing offspring' and later came to mean 'producing or increasing in number'; the modern compound with 'non-' yields the meaning 'not producing increase or growth'.