'nonrandom' originates from Modern English, specifically the prefix 'non-' + the adjective 'random', where 'non-' meant 'not' and 'random' meant 'without definite aim or pattern'.

'random' changed from Old French 'randoun' (meaning 'speed, violence') into Middle English 'randoun' and later developed the sense 'without definite aim'; the negative prefix 'non-' comes from Latin 'non' (and reinforced by Germanic negation), and the compound 'nonrandom' formed in Modern English as a straightforward negation of 'random'.

Initially, 'random' related to 'speed' or 'haste' in Old French, but over time it evolved to mean 'without definite aim or pattern'; 'nonrandom' therefore originally meant simply 'not random' and has come to be used particularly to indicate systematic or patterned (non-chance) phenomena in modern usage.