'nonwoody' originates from English, formed by the prefix 'non-' + the adjective 'woody'; 'non-' meant 'not' and 'woody' comes from 'wood' + the adjectival suffix '-y' meaning 'having the characteristics of wood'.

'woody' developed from Old English 'wudu' (wood) through Middle English forms and the addition of '-y' to mean 'of or like wood'; the productive prefix 'non-' (from Latin 'non', via Old French/Middle English usage) was attached in modern English to create 'nonwoody'.

Initially, 'wood' referred to 'wood' or 'forest' and 'woody' meant 'of wood' or 'having woodlike qualities'; over time 'woody' came to mean 'having a hard, lignified stem', and 'nonwoody' came to mean 'not having such woody stems' (i.e., herbaceous).