novel
UK/ˈnɒvəl//ˈnɑvəl/
novel adjective: newly made, formed or evolved; having no precedent; of recent origin; new.
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Adjective
novel (comparative more novel, superlative most novel)
Noun (1)
novel (plural novels)
- A work of prose fiction, longer than a novella.
- If it be true, that the preſent age is more corrupt, than the preceding, the great multiplication of Novels has probably contributed to its degeneracy. Fifty years ago there was ſcarcely a Novel in the kingdom. Romances, indeed, abounded; but they, it is ſuppoſed, were rather favorable to virtue.1800, Vicesimus Knox, “Essay XIV (On Novel reading)”, in Essays Moral and Literary, volume I, page 100
- Since I had started to break down all my writing and get rid of all facility and try to make instead of describe, writing had been wonderful to do. But it was very difficult, and I did not know how I would ever write anything as long as a novel. It often took me a full morning of work to write a...1964, Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 151
- A fable; a short tale, especially one of many making up a larger work.
- merry tales[…]such as the old woman told of Psyche in Apuleius, Boccace novels, and the rest, quarum auditione pueri delectantur, senes narratione, which some delight to hear, some to tell, all are well pleased with.1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 2, section...
Noun (2)
novel (plural novels)
Noun (3)
novel (plural novels)
- A new legal constitution.
- The normal and natural relationship of emperor and churchman was summed up by Justinian in one of his novels […]1979, Jeffrey Richards, The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages, 476–752, page 15
novel meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
novel in Hindi
- new, original, especially in an interesting way
- नया nayā
- work of prose fiction
- कथा kathā, कहानी kahānī, उपन्यास upanyās, नावेल nāvel
novel in Tamil
- work of prose fiction
- நாவல் nāval, புதினம் putiṉam
novel in Marathi
- work of prose fiction
- कादंबरी kādambrī
novel in Urdu
- work of prose fiction
- ناوِل nāvil
More languagesFewer languages
- novel in Bengali
- উপন্যাস uponnaś
- novel in Telugu
- వినూత్న vinūtna, నవల navala
- novel in Malayalam
- കല്പിതകഥ, കഥാപ്രബന്ധം, നോവൽ സാഹിത്യം, നൂതനമായ
- novel in Kannada
- ಕಾದಂಬರಿ kādambari
- novel in Punjabi
- ਉਪਨਿਆਸ upaniāsa
- novel in Gujarati
- નવલકથા navalkathā
- novel in Odia
- ନୂଆ nuā
- novel in Sinhala
- නවකතාව nawakatāwa
- novel in Assamese
- উপন্যাস upoinnax
- novel in Nepali
- उपन्यास upanyās
- novel in Pashto
- ناول nāwəl, رومان romān
- novel in Tagalog
- nobela, akdang-buhay, kathambuhay
- novel in Arabic
- مُسْتَجِدّ mustajidd, رِوَايَة riwāya
- novel in Malay
- novel, roman
- novel in Indonesian
- novel
- novel in Thai
- แนวใหม่, นวนิยาย ná-wá-ní-yaai, นิยาย ní-yaai
- novel in Vietnamese
- tiểu thuyết
- novel in Myanmar
- ဝတ္ထု wathtu.
Examples of novel in a sentence
- His complete absorption in the novel made him lose track of time.
- I got by on hack work for years before I finally published my novel.
- Her first novel contained a host of characters who were richly and convincingly drawn.
Synonyms of novel
11 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of novel
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more novel |
| superlative | most novel |
| Noun | |
| plural | novels |
Origin of novel
From Middle English novel, from Old French novel (“new, fresh, recent, recently made or done, strange, rare”) (modern nouvel, nouveau), from Latin novellus (“new, fresh, young, modern”), diminutive of novus (“new”). Doublet of nouveau.
Borrowed from Italian novella, from Latin novella, feminine of novellus. Doublet of novella.
From Middle English novel, from Old French novelle, from Latin novella, feminine of novellus.
Words formed from novel
- novelly
- novelness
- airport novel
- antinovel
- anti-novel
- blognovel
- cybernovel
- dime novel
- e-novel
- graphic novel
- historical novel
- holonovel
- hypernovel
- I-novel
- kinetic novel
- light novel
- meganovel
- nonfiction novel
- non-fiction novel
- nonnovel
- novelcraft
- noveldom
- novelese
- novelesque
- novelette
- novelisation
- novelization
- novelise
- novelish
- novelism
- novelist
- novelize
- novellike
- novelwright
- photonovel
- Russian novel effect
- seminovel
- sensation novel
- silver fork novel
- telenovel
- trunk novel
- Twitter novel
- twovel
- visual novel
- webnovel
Words that rhyme with novel
Questions about novel
- What does novel mean?
- Novel means newly made, formed or evolved; having no precedent; of recent origin; new.
- What is novel in Hindi?
- Novel in Hindi is नया (nayā), कथा (kathā), कहानी (kahānī). See Novel meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is novel?
- Novel can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce novel?
- Novel is pronounced /ˈnɒvəl/ (UK).
Words near novel in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: novel (page history and authors); novel (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਉਪਨਿਆਸ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); નવલકથા (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ନୂଆ (Odia) (page history and authors); উপন্যাস (Assamese) (page history and authors); उपन्यास (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-novel.ogg.
Cite this entry: “novel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/novel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.