nonpromotion

English

Etymology

non- +‎ promotion

Noun

nonpromotion (countable and uncountable, plural nonpromotions)

1. Failure to promote a person to a higher rank.
   • 1854, The Edinburgh Review or Critical Journal, page 114:

     It is true that there are men to be found who never rise beyond a curacy; as there are grey-headed midshipmen occasionally to be seen in the navy. But the former case is quite as rare as the latter; promotion is the rule, non-promotion the exception, in both professions.

2. (US, education) The holding back of a pupil instead of advancing them to the next year of studies.
   • 1990, Kofi Lomotey, Going to School: The African-American Experience, page 62:

     The first group consisted of the Black teachers who expressed ambivalence and concern that students would be emotionally hurt by nonpromotions. The second group consisted of gregarious, highly spirited teachers.