'nonmitotic' originates from Modern English, combining the prefix 'non-' (from Latin 'non' meaning 'not') and 'mitotic' (from 'mitosis'). 'Mitosis' ultimately comes from Greek 'mitos' meaning 'thread'.

'mitosis' was coined in the late 19th century (from Greek 'mitos') and gave rise to the adjective 'mitotic' in English; the negative prefix 'non-' was later attached in modern scientific usage to form 'nonmitotic'.

Initially, terms related to 'mitosis' referred to the threadlike appearance of chromosomes; over time they came to denote the cellular process of chromosome segregation, and 'nonmitotic' now simply denotes absence of that process.