novella

[ noh-vel-uh ]

noun

, plural no·vel·las, no·vel·le [noh-, vel, -ee, -, vel, -ey].

1. a tale or short story of the type contained in the Decameron of Boccaccio.
2. a fictional prose narrative that is longer and more complex than a short story; a short novel.

novella

/ nəʊˈvɛlə /

noun

1. (formerly) a short narrative tale, esp a popular story having a moral or satirical point, such as those in Boccaccio's Decameron
2. a short novel; novelette

Word History and Origins

Origin of novella¹

From Italian, dating back to 1900–05; novel ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of novella¹

C20: from Italian; see novel ¹

Example Sentences

They both fit into a coat’s oversized pocket, just the size of a paperback novella.

From Eater

The novella that lends its title to this collection centers on two women exchanging increasingly disturbing messages in a chatroom.

From Washington Post

In the first section of this novella, a paralegal, also, named David Bingham, lives with his wealthy lover, also named Charles Griffith.

From Washington Blade

Originally begun in 1967, with the novella Weyr Search, the series ballooned to more than 25 novels and multiple compilations of short stories and novellas.

From Time

The original film was directed by Clive Barker adapting his own novella "The Hellbound Heart."

From TechCrunch

And in some ways [the novella at the end of the collection] “Jack and the Mad Dog” just sort of set me free.

From The Daily Beast

Morgan, beamed in as ever from a planet far from ours, delivered a mini-novella, dedicated to these people being “part of me.”

From The Daily Beast

I see my novella as being part of that—as part of the social discourse.

From The Daily Beast

I tried to make that clear in the author's note at the start of the novella, but it seems that I was not emphatic enough.

From The Daily Beast

The surprise is that the 127-page novella is far from terrible and creepy.

From The Daily Beast

Una novella boccaccesca in azione nel secolo xv, p. 419 et seq.

From Project Gutenberg

Landau, M., La novella di messer Torello e le sue attinenze mitiche e leggendarie, in Giornale stor.

From Project Gutenberg

The most remarkable exception is Santa Maria Novella, which has an elaborate facing of black and white marble.

From Project Gutenberg

In other words the novella was actually (though still in miniature) a novel in nature as well as in name.

From Project Gutenberg

Rinaldo agreed, and marched with all his company to S. Maria Novella.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• fiction
• narrative
• paperback
• prose
• story
• tale
• yarn