Word.ws English Dictionary

vel non

vel non phrase: or not; used when discussing the existence or nonexistence of a condition, circumstance, etc.

Phrase

vel non

  1. (especially) or not; used when discussing the existence or nonexistence of a condition, circumstance, etc
    • The undocumented status of these children vel non does not establish a sufficient rational basis for denying them benefits that the State affords other residents.June 1982, United States Supreme Court, Plyler v. Doe

Origin of vel non

From Latin vel non.

Questions about vel non

What does vel non mean?
Vel non means or not; used when discussing the existence or nonexistence of a condition, circumstance, etc.
What part of speech is vel non?
Vel non is a phrase.

Words near vel non in the dictionary

  1. Vejoz
  2. Vekich
  3. veksel
  4. veksels
  5. vel
  6. vel non
  7. vel sim.
  8. vel.
  9. vela
  10. Vela Luka
  11. Velachery

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: vel non (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “vel non.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/vel_non. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.