nonsignificant

The word 'nonsignificant' is a modern English formation built upon the well-established adjective 'significant'. The prefix 'non-', derived from Latin 'non' meaning "not," is a highly productive negating element in English. The core word 'significant' traces back to Latin 'significans', the present participle of 'significare' ("to signify"), itself composed of 'signum' ("sign, mark") and the verb-forming suffix '-ficare' ("to make"). Thus, the literal construction is "not making a sign" or "not meaningful." In contemporary usage, this logic extends clearly to its primary meanings: in statistics, it denotes a result not marked as meaningful beyond chance, and in general use, it describes something lacking importance or relevance.

Structure: non (not) + significant (meaningful) - non: A prefix of Latin origin, meaning "not," used to form negatives. - significant: An adjective of Latin origin, from 'significare' meaning "to signify, show by signs." The morpheme 'sign' (mark, token) is embedded within it, but the primary division for this analysis is the prefix 'non' attached to the whole adjective 'significant'.