feuilleton
Americannoun
plural
feuilletons-
a part of a European newspaper devoted to light literature, fiction, criticism, etc.
-
an item printed in the feuilleton.
noun
-
the part of a European newspaper carrying reviews, serialized fiction, etc
-
such a review or article
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of feuilleton
1835–45; < French, equivalent to feuillet little leaf ( feuille (< Latin folium leaf ) + -et -et ) + -on noun suffix
Explanation
A feuilleton is a section in a publication, such as a newspaper, that is there for entertainment purposes. It might be a light-hearted, non-newsy column or essay, or a short story published in your school's newspaper. The word feuilleton is borrowed from French, derived from feuille, meaning "leaf or page." It refers to a section in many European newspapers with lighter, more entertaining material. In the 1800s and early 1900s, novels were often published in installments in both European and American magazines or newspapers. These serialized novels are also called feuilletons, and they included such classics as The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, and The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Before Roth found success as a novelist, he established himself as one of Europe’s leading writers of the feuilleton, a form that originated as a “talk of the town” newspaper supplement in 19th-century France.
From Washington Post • Jan. 5, 2023
In 1969, Perec told his editor Maurice Nadeau that he was planning an adventure novel which was to appear serially, feuilleton style, as the stories of Jules Verne had.
From The New Yorker • Jul. 16, 2019
“It’s a system that eats everything, that devours everything,” he said of the feuilleton aesthetic, a leading modern manifestation of which is the television soap opera.
From New York Times • Jul. 29, 2011
In 1987 Faber brought out a startling feuilleton entitled A Special Relationship.
From The Guardian • Apr. 16, 2010
How often had she nursed a halfpenny paper through the whole of a traffic-distracted day that she might read the feuilleton at night!
From The New Gulliver and Other Stories by Pain, Barry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
