novel1
- a fictitious prose narrative of considerable length and complexity, portraying characters and usually presenting a sequential organization of action and scenes.
- (formerly) novella(def 1).
Origin of novel1
novel2
- of a new kind; different from anything seen or known before: a novel idea.
Origin of novel2
Synonyms
See more synonyms for novel on Thesaurus.comnovel3
- Roman Law.
- an imperial enactment subsequent and supplementary to an imperial compilation and codification of authoritative legal materials.
- Usually Novels,imperial enactments subsequent to the promulgation of Justinian's Code and supplementary to it: one of the four divisions of the Corpus Juris Civilis.
- Civil Law. an amendment to a statute.
Origin of novel3
Examples from the Web for novel
Contemporary Examples
Submission is less a novel of ideas than a political book, and of the most subversive kind.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim PresidentPierre Assouline
January 9, 2015
Houellebecq on Thursday announced that he is suspending promotion of the novel.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim PresidentPierre Assouline
January 9, 2015
He was not originally so uninhibited, however, as can now be seen in his “lost” novel, Skylight.
His books include Render unto Rome and a novel about Louisiana politics, Last of the Red Hot Poppas.
In fact, I wrote 212 pages of a novel called The Discovery of Sex that was bought, and I pulled it.
Historical Examples
He went over once more the day's arguments for and against the novel emprise.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
"Oh, my dear," she said, clasping the novel with one hand while she embraced him with the other.
The Foolish LoversSt. John G. Ervine
"And then there's the novel I wrote when I was at home," he concluded.
The Foolish LoversSt. John G. Ervine
The last post had brought the proofs of his second novel to him.
The Foolish LoversSt. John G. Ervine
My dear, you will be woefully disappointed if in my story you expect any thing like a novel.
Tales And Novels, Volume 3 (of 10)Maria Edgeworth
novel1
- an extended work in prose, either fictitious or partly so, dealing with character, action, thought, etc, esp in the form of a story
- the novel the literary genre represented by novels
- (usually plural) obsolete a short story or novella, as one of those in the Decameron of Boccaccio
Word Origin
novel2
- of a kind not seen before; fresh; new; originala novel suggestion
Word Origin
novel3
- Roman law a new decree or an amendment to an existing statuteSee also Novels
Word Origin and History for novel
adj.
"new, strange, unusual," early 15c., but little used before 1600, from Old French novel, nouvel "new, young, fresh, recent; additional; early, soon" (Modern French nouveau, fem. nouvelle), from Latin novellus "new, young, recent," diminutive of novus "new" (see new).
n.
"fictitious narrative," 1560s, from Italian novella "short story," originally "new story," from Latin novella "new things" (cf. Middle French novelle, French nouvelle), neuter plural or fem. of novellus (see novel (adj.)). Originally "one of the tales or short stories in a collection" (especially Boccaccio's), later (1630s) "long work of fiction," works which had before that been called romances.
A novel is like a violin bow; the box which gives off the sounds is the soul of the reader. [Stendhal, "Life of Henri Brulard"]
novel
A long, fictional narration in prose. Great Expectations and Huckleberry Finn are novels, as are War and Peace and Lord of the Flies.