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Etymology and origin of the English word novelist

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1593 G. Harvey, Pierces Supererogation
Ultimate origins
Italian novellaEnglish -ist
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English novel
English novelist

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈnɒvəlɪst/[1]
  • US: /ˈnɑvəlɪst/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English novel + -ist.[2][3][4][5] The OED compares French nouvelliste (a newsmonger from the late 17th century, a writer only from 1852), Italian novellista (1640), Spanish novelista and Portuguese novelista, all meaning a writer.[2] Etymonline thinks the sense "writer of novels" was influenced by the Italian word,[6] and the Shorter Oxford takes the sense "newsmonger" from the French one.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An innovator, someone who favours novelty: 1593, in Gabriel Harvey's Pierces Supererogation,[2][3] the 1580s in Etymonline.[6] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1575–85.[5]

Semantic evolution

The early senses came from novel "new": an innovator (1593), mostly as a term of disapproval, and an inexperienced person or novice (about 1608).[2][6] The sense "writer of novels", from the noun novel "long prose fiction", appears in 1633,[2] although Etymonline dates it only to 1728[6] and the Shorter Oxford to the early 18th century.[4] Johnson (1755) still listed "innovator; assertor of novelty" first, quoting Bacon, and "a writer of novels" second.[7] From 1706 to 1771 a novelist could also be a carrier of news.[2][6]

Timeline

  • 1593 – an innovator.[2][3]
  • c. 1608 – an inexperienced person, a novice (obsolete by 1743).[2]
  • 1633 – a writer of novels.[2]
  • 1706 – a newsmonger (obsolete by 1771).[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A writer of novels: She worked as a teacher before becoming a novelist.[3][2][7]
  2. (archaic) An innovator; someone who favours novelty.[2][3][7]
  3. (obsolete, 1706–1771) A newsmonger.[2][4][3]

Word family

  • novelistic

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
Cite this entry

“Novelist.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/novelist. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·