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If someone tells you that you've come up with a novel idea or a novel interpretation of something, it's probably a compliment: not everyone is capable of original thinking. But not everything new is terribly worthwhile; a novelty, for example, is often a cute (or maybe just silly) little object that you might put on a display shelf in your house. It may seem surprising that the familiar noun novel is related as well. In the 14th century, Italian writers began writing collections of short tales, each of which they called a novella because it represented a new literary form; from this word, three centuries later, the English coined the noun novel.
Synonyms
Examples of novel in a Sentence
Quartz Bot, Quartz, 8 Nov. 2024
Educating employees—especially those in finance roles—about the risks of fraudulent invoices and how to verify payment requests would be wise for organizations to prioritize in light of novel cyberattacks like this.
—Lars Daniel, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
George Packer, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2024
But how did novels like Liu’s overcome the disreputable status of pulp fiction and gain an international reputation as serious literature?
—H.m.a. Leow, JSTOR Daily, 5 Nov. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near novel
Cite this Entry
“Novel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/novel. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
novel
1 of 2 adjective
novel
2 of 2 noun
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