Meanings
nounnonmetal (plural nonmetals)
plural nonmetals · alternative non-metal
- chemistryAn element, such as phosphorus or chlorine, that does not have the chemical or physical properties of a metal.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivenot containing or resembling or characteristic of a metal
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*né
- Proto-Germanic*ne
- Proto-Indo-European*ís?
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁óynos
- Proto-Germanic*ainaz
- Proto-Germanic*nainaz
- Proto-West Germanic*nain
- Old Englishnān
- Middle Englishnon
- Old Englishnān
- Old Englishnān-
- Middle Englishnon-
- Englishnon-
- Ancient Greekμέταλλον (métallon)
- Latinmetallum
- Old Frenchmeta
- Middle Englishmetal
- Englishmetal
- Englishnonmetal
Translations
Catalan no-metall
- no-metallelement that does not have the properties of a metal
Esperanto nemetalo
- nemetaloelement that does not have the properties of a metal
Finnish epämetalli
- epämetallielement that does not have the properties of a metal
French non-métal
- non-métalelement that does not have the properties of a metal
German Nichtmetall
- Nichtmetallelement that does not have the properties of a metal
Greek αμέταλλο
- αμέταλλο (amétallo)element that does not have the properties of a metal
Hungarian nemfém
- nemfémelement that does not have the properties of a metal
Italian non-metallo
- non-metalloelement that does not have the properties of a metal
Māori konukore
- konukoreelement that does not have the properties of a metal
Persian نافلز
- نافلز (nâfelez)element that does not have the properties of a metal
Polish niemetal
- niemetalelement that does not have the properties of a metal
Romanian nemetal
- nemetalelement that does not have the properties of a metal
Russian немета́лл
- немета́лл (nemetáll)element that does not have the properties of a metal
Spanish no metal
- no metalelement that does not have the properties of a metal
Swedish icke-metall
- icke-metallelement that does not have the properties of a metal
Tagalog dimetal
- dimetalelement that does not have the properties of a metal
Turkish ametal
- ametalelement that does not have the properties of a metal
Vietnamese phi kim
- phi kimelement that does not have the properties of a metal
Welsh anfetel
- anfetelelement that does not have the properties of a metal
Cite this entry
APA
nonmetal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonmetal
MLA
“nonmetal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonmetal. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nonmetal,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonmetal.
Source: nonmetal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.