novel

Definitions

From Latin novellus ('newish, fresh'), the diminutive of novus ('new'). The adjective kept the plain sense — novel = new and original. The noun took a detour through Italian novella, a 'new little story' (a fresh piece of news), and came to name a long work of fiction. So both meanings trace back to 'new': newness as a quality, and newness as a story.

Common Collocations

• 1.write a novel写小说
• 2.a novel approach新颖的方法
• 3.a novel idea新奇的想法
• 4.graphic novel图像小说
• 5.best-selling novel畅销小说

Example Sentences

• 1.

  She spent three years writing her first novel.

• 2.

  The book offers a novel approach to teaching maths.

• 3.

  His latest novel is set in nineteenth-century Paris.

• 4.

  They came up with a novel way to recycle plastic waste.

Easily Confused

novel (adj.) vs new — both mean 'new,' but novel adds 'and surprising / not seen before.' Anything just-made is new; only something fresh and inventive is novel. A new phone model can still be boring; a novel design breaks the mould. Don't use novel for ordinary newness (say 'a new car,' not 'a novel car').