NOVEL • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Novel

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/nˈɑvəl/ Listen

noun

Novel n.

1.

That which is new or unusual; a novelty.

2.

pl. News; fresh tidings. (Obs.) "Some came of curiosity to hear some novels."

3.

A fictitious tale or narrative, longer than a short story, having some degree of complexity and development of characters; it is usually organized as a time sequence of events, and is commonly intended to exhibit the operation of the passions, and often of love.

4.

(Law) A new or supplemental constitution. See the Note under Novel, a.

adjective

Novel adj. Of recent origin or introduction; not ancient; new; hence, out of the ordinary course; unusual; strange; surprising. Note: In civil law, the novel or new constitutions are those which are supplemental to the code, and posterior in time to the other books. These contained new decrees of successive emperors.

Novel assignment (Law), a new assignment or specification of a suit.

Synonyms: New; recent; modern; fresh; strange; uncommon; rare; unusual. Novel, New. Everything at its first occurrence is new; that is novel which is so much out of the ordinary course as to strike us with surprise. That is a new sight which is beheld for the first time; that is a novel sight which either was never seen before or is seen but seldom. We have daily new inventions, but a novel one supposes some very peculiar means of attaining its end. Novel theories are regarded with distrust, as likely to prove more ingenious than sound.

See images of 'Novel'

Etymology of 'Novel'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Novel" Quotes from Famous Books

... 'C'. With the arguable exception of the Amiga (see {amoeba}), Commodore's machines are notoriously crocky little {bitty box}es (see also {PETSCII}). Thus, this usage may owe something to Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" (the basis for the movie "Blade Runner"; the novel is now sold under that title), in which a 'chickenhead' is a ...

— The Jargon File, Version 4.0.0

... sombre as myself. Rain and mist are worse than a sirocco, particularly in a beef-eating and beer-drinking country. My bookseller, Cawthorne, has just left me, and tells me, with a most important face, that he is in treaty for a novel of Madame D'Arblay's, for which 1000 guineas are asked! He wants me to read the MS. (if he obtains it), which I shall do with pleasure; but I should be very cautious in venturing an opinion on her whose Cecilia Dr. Johnson superintended.[36] If he ...

— Life of Lord Byron, Vol. II - With His Letters and Journals • Thomas Moore

... their humid influences from the mountain tops. There the saline atmosphere of Salt Lake mingles in wedlock with the fresh humidity of the same vegetable element which comes over the mountain top, as if the nuptial bonds of rare elements were introduced to exhibit a novel specimen of a perfect vegetable progeny in the shortest possible ...

— The Story of the Mormons: • William Alexander Linn

... saying, "That is very interesting," from a certain force of habit, which you have noted in me, when confronted with a novel instance of any kind. "But," I suggested, "why not act upon the reverse of that principle, and create the fact by affirmation which you think ...

— Questionable Shapes • William Dean Howells

... objection, which must be stated in the words of one of the critics who have urged it: "Montesinos treats the ancient history of Peru in a mode so original and distinct from all others that we can perceive it to be a production alike novel and unknown." If this means any thing, it means that it was highly improper for Montesinos to find in Peru what was "unknown" to poorly-informed and superficial Spanish writers, who had already been accepted as "authorities." It would have been singular if his careful investigation, continued ...

— Ancient America, in Notes on American Archaeology • John D. Baldwin

Copyright © 2025 Diccionario ingles.com