novel
Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word novel. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word novel, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say novel in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word novel you have here. The definition of the word novel will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofnovel, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Front page of Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes, a notable example of a novel
English
Pronunciation
- (UK) enPR: nŏvʹəl, IPA(key): /ˈnɒvəl/,
- (US) enPR: nävʹəl, IPA(key): /ˈnɑvəl/
Audio (US) (file) - Hyphenation: novel
- Rhymes: -ɒvəl
Etymology 1
From Middle English novel, from Old French novel (“new, fresh, recent, recently made or done, strange, rare”) (modern nouvel, nouveau), from Latin novellus (“new, fresh, young, modern”), diminutive of novus (“new”). Doublet of nouveau.
Adjective
novel (comparative more novel, superlative most novel)
- Newly made, formed or evolved; having no precedent; of recent origin; new.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:new
- Original, especially in an interesting way; new and striking; not of the typical or ordinary type.
- Synonym: unusual
Usage notes
- Said of ideas, ways, etc.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
new, original, especially in an interesting way
|
Etymology 2
_El_ingenioso_hidalgo_Don_Quixote_de_la_Mancha.png)
Borrowed from Italian novella, from Latin novella, feminine of novellus. Doublet of novella.
Noun
novel (plural novels)
- A work of prose fiction, longer than a novella.
- 1964, Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 151:
- Since I had started to break down all my writing and get rid of all facility and try to make instead of describe, writing had been wonderful to do. But it was very difficult, and I did not know how I would ever write anything as long as a novel. It often took me a full morning of work to write a paragraph.
- (historical) A fable; a short tale, especially one of many making up a larger work.
- 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: , 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 2, section 2, member 4:
- merry tales […] such as the old woman told of Psyche in Apuleius, Boccace novels, and the rest, quarum auditione pueri delectantur, senes narratione, which some delight to hear, some to tell, all are well pleased with.
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
work of prose fiction
|
Etymology 3
From Middle English novel, from Old French novelle, from Latin novella, feminine of novellus.
Noun
novel (plural novels)
- (obsolete) A novelty; something new.
- 1687, John Aubrey, Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme, page 7:
- Libum is a cake made of Honey (sugar is a nouvelle, since the discovery of America), meale and oyle.
Etymology 4
Borrowed from Latin novella, feminine of novellus.
Noun
novel (plural novels)
- (classical studies, historical) A new legal constitution in ancient Rome.
- 1979, Jeffrey Richards, The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages, 476–752, page 15:
- The normal and natural relationship of emperor and churchman was summed up by Justinian in one of his novels […]
Anagrams
Indonesian
Etymology
From Dutch novelle, from Italian novella, from Latin novella, feminine of novellus. Doublet of novela and novelet.
Pronunciation
Noun
novel (first-person possessive novelku, second-person possessive novelmu, third-person possessive novelnya)
- (literature) novel: a work of prose fiction, longer than a novella.
- Synonym: roman
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “novel” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.
Middle English
Noun
novel
- Alternative form of navel
Old French
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Latin novellus, from novus.
Pronunciation
Adjective
novel m (oblique and nominative feminine singular novele)
Declension
Declension of novel
Antonyms
Related terms
Descendants
- Middle French: nouveau
- Norman: nouvieau
- Walloon: novea
- → Middle English: novel
- English: novel (“new”)
Old Occitan
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Latin novellus. Compare Old French novel.
Adjective
The template Template:pro-adj does not use the parameter(s):2=novels 3=novellasPlease see Module:checkparams for help with this warning.
novel m (feminine singular novela, masculine plural novels, feminine plural novelas)
Descendants
Spanish
Etymology
Borrowed from Catalan novell, from Latin novellus. Doublet of novillo.
Pronunciation
Adjective
novel m or f (masculine and feminine plural noveles)
Noun
novel m or f by sense (plural noveles)
Related terms
Further reading
- “novel”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014