Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🌏 From outside West 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 A person from outside West
non-Western

non-Western

4.8
A person or group from outside Europe and North America
  • noun
  • /nɑnˈwɛstərn/
translation icon : no occidental
  • Many non-Western societies have rich histories that differ greatly from Western narratives.

Examples

  • The conference highlighted the contributions of non-Western scholars to global knowledge.

  • She is studying the art and traditions of non-Western cultures for her thesis.

  • The Dutch women were at the top, then the Dutch men, then the then the non Western ethnic minority women, then the non western ethnic minority men.

Antonyms

western
896 2.1

Relating to the countries and cultures of Europe and the Americas

How Western

non-Western
4.8

Surface Forms

non-Western singular
non-Westerns plural

Morphology

non-Western = Western (transparent) = non + Western

The noun use is formed by negating 'Western' with 'non-'; learners can interpret 'a non-Western' as 'someone/something not Western'.

Etymology

As a noun, non-Western comes from the parts non- 'not' and Western 'from the West', so it literally means 'not-West'. This helps you remember that a non-Western person or group is someone from outside the Western world, for example from Asia, Africa, or other regions.