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historical novel

American  

noun

  1. a novel within the genre of historical fiction.


Etymology

Origin of historical novel

First recorded in 1820–30


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.

See Examples For:

But it’s also because Miles—who shares the surname and the romantic nature of Lucius, the protagonist from Mr. Mason’s acclaimed 2018 historical novel, “The Winter Soldier”—can’t fix on a topic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Chase the Wind, the first of the Retallick saga, was voted the best historical novel of 1977, with Thompson going on to write about 40 historical novels, most of them set in Cornwall.

From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2026

Based on the historical novel series “Ikusagami” by Shogo Imamura, the Meiji-era set “Last Samurai Standing” will involve 292 warriors assembled at a temple in Kyoto for a deadly game with a massive cash prize.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2025

Morgan Jerkins has given us something magnificent in her second novel, “Zeal“: a sweeping historical novel that plants itself firmly in the present tense of American reckoning.

From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2025

It was like a page torn from a book, a historical novel, perhaps, dealing with the captivity in Babylon or the Spanish Inquisition.

From "Night" by Elie Wiesel

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