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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word novelista

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1730 Feijoo, Theatro crítico universal IV More words from the 18th century
Ultimate origin
Italian novella
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Spanish novela
Spanish novelista

Pronunciation

  • /nobeˈlista/, [no.β̞eˈlis.t̪a][1]

Forms

novelista m or f by sense (plural novelistas)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish novela + -ista.[1][2][3] novela is from Italian novella (“piece of news; short tale”), recorded in Spanish from about 1400;[4] Corominas places it in the family of nuevo.[3][4] Echegaray and Barcia compare Italian novellista and French nouvelliste.[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records in the CDH are of the 1720s–1740s.[7] Torres Villarroel, in the extract of his almanacs of 1725–1744, puts the word in quotation marks among insults: Bercebú lleve a tanto tonto Xacarero, «Novelista», y desocupado que me persigue “the devil take so many fools, ballad-mongers, ‘novelists’ and idlers who persecute me”.[7] In 1730 Feijoo judges Xenophon más «novelista» que historiador “more a teller of tales than a historian”.[7]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century the word named the writer of invented stories as opposed to the historian: Feijoo writes in 1740 that in the barbarous ages historians degenerated into novelistas, and Mayans in 1737 contrasts the novelista with the architect.[7] Domínguez defined it in 1846–1847 as a writer of novels, man or woman.[8] The Academy's 1869 edition gives it as common gender, a writer or woman writer of novels.[9] Since 1884 it has defined it as a person who writes novels, the definition the DLE keeps.[10][11] The BDELC dates the word 1884.[3] Judeo-Spanish has it too.[12]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – first record of novela.[3]
  • 1725–1744 – Torres Villarroel uses novelista in quotation marks in his almanacs.[7]
  • 1730 – Feijoo calls Xenophon more a novelista than a historian.[7]
  • 1737 – Mayans uses it in his life of Cervantes.[7]
  • 1846–1847 – Domínguez defines it as a writer of novels.[8]
  • 1869 – first in the Academy's dictionary.[9]
  • 1884 – the Academy's definition “a person who writes novels”; the BDELC's date for the word.[10][3]
  • 1935 – recorded in Mexico.[13]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who writes novels (novelas), a novelist: Su abuela fue una novelista muy leída en los años treinta.[11][14][1]
  • novela
  • novelesco
  • novelar
  • Italian novellista

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. novelista
  3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. nuevo
  4. ^ a b Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. novela
  5. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 516
  6. ^ Barcia, Roque (1880–1883), Primer diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Tipográfico de Álvarez Hermanos, p. 942
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. novelista
  8. ^ a b Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1263
  9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 813
  10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 744
  11. ^ a b Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. novelista
  12. ^ Nehama, Joseph (1977), Dictionnaire du judéo-espagnol, Madrid: CSIC, p. s.v. novelista
  13. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. novelista
  14. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. novelista

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Novelista.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/novelista. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·