novel

¹ American  

[nov-uhl] / ˈnɒv əl /

noun

1. a fictitious prose narrative of considerable length and complexity, portraying characters and usually presenting a sequential organization of action and scenes.

2. (formerly) novella.

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novel ² American  

[nov-uhl] / ˈnɒv əl /

adjective

1. of a new and unusual kind; different from anything seen or known before.

   a novel idea.

2. not previously detected or reported.

   the emergence of novel strains of the virus.

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novel ³ American  

[nov-uhl] / ˈnɒv əl /

noun

1. Roman Law.

   1. an imperial enactment subsequent and supplementary to an imperial compilation and codification of authoritative legal materials.

   2. 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.

2. Civil Law. an amendment to a statute.

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novel ¹ British  

/ ˈnɒvəl /

noun

1. Roman law a new decree or an amendment to an existing statute See also Novels

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novel ² British  

/ ˈnɒvəl /

adjective

1. of a kind not seen before; fresh; new; original

   a novel suggestion

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novel ³ British  

/ ˈnɒvəl /

noun

1. an extended work in prose, either fictitious or partly so, dealing with character, action, thought, etc, esp in the form of a story

2. the literary genre represented by novels

3. obsolete (usually plural) a short story or novella, as one of those in the Decameron of Boccaccio

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novel Cultural  

1. A long, fictional narration in prose. Great Expectations and Huckleberry Finn are novels, as are War and Peace and Lord of the Flies.

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Usage

What is a novel? A novel is a long work of fiction written in prose that tells a narrative involving characters and usually involving an organized set of actions occurring in a setting. Let’s break that down. Fiction is a type of writing (literature) that involves characters that don’t exist or people (usually famous) who have been reimagined (fictionalized). The events in fiction are made up, or, in the case of historic events, were fictionalized. Prose is the ordinary manner of writing that we use, that is, using complete sentences and not poetic verses. A narrative is a telling of events or experiences. Stories and essays are narratives. A setting is a story’s location and time. Some novels take place in our own time and place, while others take place in the past, in another country, in the future, and even in space or on other planets (real or made-up). Length is usually the key difference between works of fiction. While there are no official rules, a novel is generally at least 50,000 words, and many novels are much longer than this. By contrast, a short story is often 1,000 to 10,000 words, although flash fiction can be as short as 500 words. A novella (a short novel) is somewhere in between a short story and a novel.

Related Words

See new.

Other Word Forms

• novellike adjective

Etymology

Origin of novel¹

First recorded in 1560–70; from Italian novella (storia) “new (story)”; novel ²

Origin of novel²

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Anglo-French, Middle French novel, from Old French novel, nouvel, from Latin novellus “fresh, young, novel,” diminutive of novus “new”; new

Origin of novel³

First recorded in 1605–15; from Late Latin novella (constitūtiō) “a new (regulation, order)”; novel ²

Explanation

If something is so new and original that it's never been seen, used or even thought of before, call it novel. The noun novel describes a book-length work of fiction. New and novel come from the same Indo-European root but by different paths. Whereas new is a Germanic word coming from Old English, novel is based on Latin novellus "new, young, fresh." If something is novel, it is new but also original, fresh and unique. Companies are always looking for that novel idea that will earn them millions and skydiving is a novel experience, especially if you're not adventurous.

Example Sentences

In Matthew Kressel’s novel, a woman’s journey across the red planet is a pilgrimage in quest of human connection.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

"We demonstrated that this synergistic effect is not a coincidence, but is based on a novel mode of action resulting from the simultaneous activation of different intracellular signaling pathways," says Prof. Arimura.

From Science Daily • Apr. 9, 2026

And sometimes, my book clubs read a novel that speaks so wholly to who they are — some unarticulated version — they wonder if they’d written it themselves.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

I would be very curious to know right now what sort of conversations are happening, if any, between the National Archives and the Justice Department, and whether everyone is on board with this novel conclusion.

From Slate • Apr. 9, 2026

Today, dozens of legal organizations hand out awards in the fictional lawyer's name to celebrate the model of advocacy described in Lee's novel.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Related Words

• different
• innovative
• odd
• offbeat
• peculiar
• strange
• unique
• unusual