See Also:

novel(2) (iou)



novel noun. In branch III also novell. LME.
[In branch I from Old French novelle (mod. nouvelle) = Italian novella from Latin use as noun (treated as sing.) of neut. pl. of novellus, from novus new. In branch II directly from Italian novella orig. fem. (sc. storia story) of novello new. In branch III from late Latin novella (usu. in pl. -ae) use as noun (sc. constitutio(n-) CONSTITUTION) of fem. of Latin novellus: see -EL2.]
I. Something new, a novelty, (usu. in pl.). In pl. also, news, tidings. LME-E18.
b. A piece of news. E17-M18.
II.
Hist. Any of a number of tales or fictional narratives making up a larger short work, as in the Decameron of Boccaccio, the Heptameron of Marguerite of Valois, etc.; a short narrative of this type. Usu. in pl. M16.
A fictitious prose narrative or tale of considerable length (now usu. one long enough to fill one or more volumes), esp. & orig. (freq. contrasted with a romance) representing character and action with some degree of realism; a volume containing such a narrative. M17.
antinovel, dime novel, Gothic novel, psychological novel, etc. graphic novel a full-length (esp. science fiction or fantasy) story in comic-strip format, published in book form for the adult or teenage market. novel of terror: see TERROR noun.
Steele I am afraid thy Brains are..disordered with Romances and Novels. R. K. Narayan He was already in bed, with a novel shielding his face. E. J. Howard She usually re-read three Austen novels each winter.
b. (Formerly without article; now with the.) The literary genre constituted or exemplified by such fiction. M18.
III.
Roman Law. A new constitution, supplementary to a code, esp. any of those enacted by the Emperor Justinian. E17.
noveldom noun the world of novels; novels collectively: M19.
nove'lese noun the style of language supposedly characteristic of inferior novels E20.
novelesque adjective characteristic of a novel, resembling (that of) a novel M19.
novelish adjective characteristic or suggestive of a novel E19.