nontitled

Nontitled is an adjective used to describe a work that has no formal title. It is far less common than untitled and is most frequently encountered in technical, archival, or cataloging contexts rather than in everyday writing.

In bibliographic records, museum catalogs, digital asset management systems, and scholarly databases, nontitled may indicate that the item lacks a title or that its title is unknown or not recorded. It can also function as a placeholder value when a title has not yet been assigned or published. The term thus signals a metadata condition rather than a creative choice about naming.

Linguistically, nontitled is formed from the prefix non- plus titled, echoing the familiar untitled construction but typically used in more formal or specialized registers. The distinction between nontitled and untitled centers on nuance: untitled usually implies a missing or intentionally withheld title, while nontitled emphasizes the absence of any title as a stated attribute of the work itself or its records.

Etymology traces to non- plus titled, with titled derived from title. The term remains rare in ordinary prose and is most likely to appear in catalogs, databases, or archival notes where precise metadata about a work’s naming status is required.

See also: Untitled, Title, Titling.