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I put the following sentence on the board and the students asked why it is not "non-meeting day":

The Ministry made headlines, declaring Wednesdays a no-meeting day.

I can't find the rule about when to us "no-" and when to us "non."

My students were a bit confused.

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  • Your post nowhere indicates what it is that you’re asking. Without a question, it can’t generate a confident answer.
    – PaulTanenbaum
    Commented May 24 at 11:07
  • Sorry. My question is what is the rule for using the prefix non- and what is the rule fo using the prefix no-. This quote was modified from a "The Economist" article. As a native speaker, I would never say "non-meeting" as an adjective before day. It is clearly "no-meeting" day. But I couldn't find the rule supporting that practice. Cheers!
    – LMR
    Commented May 24 at 12:53
  • Though Greybeard's answer gives a rule of thumb ('no-' tends to be used in situations where something is not allowed: deontic modality), as you've noticed this is just one more area of English that isn't satisfyingly (to the purist) consistent. 'No-fault divorce', 'no-bake cheesecake recipes', 'no-fly cruises' (though not 'no-fly zones') ... don't involve prohibition, just an absence of whatever is involved..
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented May 24 at 19:03

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A non-meeting (n.) is a so-called meeting that lacks or does not possess the criteria in order to be a true meeting.

A: "That was a waste of an hour! We all sat in the room and shouted at each other, then we left. It was a non-meeting."

A: Meetings are permitted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays - You cannot meet on a Tuesday; it is a non-meeting day. (It is not a day upon which meetings take place. - Tuesday does not meet the criteria for a meeting.)

No-meeting is the gerundive equivalent (n./adj.) of the imperative "Do not meet."

No-meeting day - a day upon which it is forbidden to meet/have a meeting

"Non-X" indicates a lack of "X"

"No-X" prohibits X

OED Non (prefix)

  1. Prefixed to nouns of action, condition, or quality with the sense ‘absence or lack of’, often corresponding semantically to ‘not doing, failure to do’ (where a verb is implied by the noun, as in non-accomplishment, lack of accomplishment, failure to accomplish) or to ‘not being, failure to be’ (where an adjective is implied by the noun, as in non-activity, lack of activity, failure to be active).

2.a. Prefixed to agent nouns and designations of persons and things, indicating that the person or thing is not that, or not of the sort, specified.

2.b. spec. Prefixed to a noun, denoting a person or thing that is not really or adequately what is designated by the noun.

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    So, in conclusion?
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented May 24 at 12:10
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    @EdwinAshworth. Did you not read "Non-X" indicates a lack of "X"; "No-X" prohibits X?
    – Greybeard
    Commented May 24 at 12:13
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    My students and I went over several examples though and I couldn't square them with a rule: like non-smoking area but one cannot say non-parking area. Presumably, non-smoking also conveys the prohibition. But you are right it also conveys a quality: the absence of smoke from cigarettes or smokers or the act of smoking. Another example was: nonstop but no-go. The last is an idiom but it does confound. This, "Non-X" indicates a lack of "X"; "No-X" prohibits X, helps a lot. Thank you!
    – LMR
    Commented May 24 at 12:59
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    Maybe this part means a no-meeting day: "A: Meetings are permitted on Mondays ... You cannot meet on a Tuesday; it is a non-meeting day"?
    – Yosef Baskin
    Commented May 24 at 13:11
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    So a no-show is when someone is prohibited from attending?
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented May 24 at 14:15

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