Novel in Different Languages
Discover 'Novel' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Novel
Afrikaans boek | ||
Albanian novelë | ||
Amharic ልብ ወለድ | ||
Arabic رواية | ||
Armenian վեպ | ||
Assamese উপন্যাস | ||
Aymara uñstiri | ||
Azerbaijani roman | ||
Bambara kura | ||
Basque eleberria | ||
Belarusian раман | ||
Bengali উপন্যাস | ||
Bhojpuri उपन्यास | ||
Bosnian roman | ||
Bulgarian роман | ||
Catalan novel·la | ||
Cebuano nobela | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 小说 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 小說 | ||
Corsican rumanzu | ||
Croatian roman | ||
Czech román | ||
Danish roman | ||
Dhivehi ވާހަކަފޮތް | ||
Dogri उपन्यास | ||
Dutch roman | ||
English novel | ||
Esperanto romano | ||
Estonian romaan | ||
Ewe ŋutinyagbalẽ | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) nobela | ||
Finnish romaani | ||
French roman | ||
Frisian roman | ||
Galician novela | ||
Georgian რომანი | ||
German roman | ||
Greek μυθιστόρημα | ||
Guarani mombe'upyrusu | ||
Gujarati નવલકથા | ||
Haitian Creole woman | ||
Hausa labari | ||
Hawaiian puke moʻolelo | ||
Hebrew רוֹמָן | ||
Hindi उपन्यास | ||
Hmong dab neeg | ||
Hungarian regény | ||
Icelandic skáldsaga | ||
Igbo akwụkwọ ọgụgụ | ||
Ilocano baro | ||
Indonesian novel | ||
Irish úrscéal | ||
Italian romanzo | ||
Japanese 小説 | ||
Javanese novel | ||
Kannada ಕಾದಂಬರಿ | ||
Kazakh роман | ||
Khmer ប្រលោមលោក | ||
Kinyarwanda igitabo | ||
Konkani कादंबरी | ||
Korean 소설 | ||
Krio nyu | ||
Kurdish roman | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) ڕۆمان | ||
Kyrgyz роман | ||
Lao ນະວະນິຍາຍ | ||
Latin romanorum | ||
Latvian novele | ||
Lingala ya sika | ||
Lithuanian romanas | ||
Luganda akatabo | ||
Luxembourgish roman | ||
Macedonian роман | ||
Maithili उपन्यास | ||
Malagasy tantara | ||
Malay novel | ||
Malayalam നോവൽ | ||
Maltese ġdid | ||
Maori pakiwaitara | ||
Marathi कादंबरी | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯑꯅꯧꯕ | ||
Mizo thawnthu | ||
Mongolian роман | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ဝတ္ထု | ||
Nepali उपन्यास | ||
Norwegian roman | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) buku lakale | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଉପନ୍ୟାସ | ||
Oromo asoosama | ||
Pashto ناول | ||
Persian رمان | ||
Polish powieść | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) romance | ||
Punjabi ਨਾਵਲ | ||
Quechua novela | ||
Romanian roman | ||
Russian роман | ||
Samoan tala | ||
Sanskrit उपन्यास | ||
Scots Gaelic nobhail | ||
Sepedi kanegelo | ||
Serbian роман | ||
Sesotho padi | ||
Shona novel | ||
Sindhi ناول | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) නවකතාව | ||
Slovak román | ||
Slovenian roman | ||
Somali sheeko | ||
Spanish novela | ||
Sundanese novel | ||
Swahili riwaya | ||
Swedish roman | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) nobela | ||
Tajik роман | ||
Tamil நாவல் | ||
Tatar роман | ||
Telugu నవల | ||
Thai นวนิยาย | ||
Tigrinya ልበ ወለድ | ||
Tsonga novhele | ||
Turkish roman | ||
Turkmen roman | ||
Twi (Akan) akenkan | ||
Ukrainian роман | ||
Urdu ناول | ||
Uyghur رومان | ||
Uzbek roman | ||
Vietnamese cuốn tiểu thuyết | ||
Welsh nofel | ||
Xhosa inoveli | ||
Yiddish ראָמאַן | ||
Yoruba aramada | ||
Zulu inoveli |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word "boek" can also mean any written publication, not just a novel. |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "novelë" derives from the Latin word "novus" (new), and can refer to both a novel and a short story. |
| Amharic | The word "ልብ ወለድ" in Amharic is a direct translation from French "roman", meaning it can also refer to a love story. |
| Arabic | رواية means “narration, account” in Arabic and is derived from the verb “روى” which means “to relate, to narrate.” |
| Armenian | The Armenian word "վեպ" is derived from the Persian word "vep", meaning "fabrication" or "invention". |
| Azerbaijani | In Azerbiayjan the term 'Roman' is a term that has a double meaning - a book of fiction, and one's sweetheart or beloved |
| Basque | In archaic Basque "eleberria" could refer to the book's binding or ornamentation as well as to its written content. |
| Belarusian | The word "раман" derives from the Latin "romans", "narrative or love poem." |
| Bengali | উপন্যাস, derived from the Sanskrit term 'upanyasa' meaning 'an extended discourse', encompasses a wide range of literary forms from ancient Indian epics to modern-day prose narratives. |
| Bosnian | The word "roman" in Bosnian can also refer to a "love story" or a "romantic novel". |
| Bulgarian | The word "роман" comes from the French word "roman", which originally meant "tale" or "story". In Bulgarian, the word "роман" has a similar meaning, but it usually refers to a longer work of fiction. |
| Catalan | In Catalan, "novel·la" is also a literary genre that originated in medieval times, characterized by its short length, prose form, and focus on a single plot or character. |
| Cebuano | The word "nobela" in Cebuano can also mean "news" or "story." |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 小说, originally meaning "small talk" or "trivial matter," has come to refer to narrative works of prose, especially those of considerable length. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The term "小說" in Traditional Chinese also encompasses other literary genres such as short stories and fictionalized historical accounts. |
| Corsican | Corsican "rumanzu" derives from the Latin "romanicus" meaning "written in the vernacular language". |
| Croatian | "Roman" is also a slang term for money in Croatian. |
| Czech | Czech "román" derives from French "roman" but can also refer to an epic poem, especially one related to heroes, chivalry, or adventure. |
| Danish | The word "roman" in Danish also refers to a serialized story published in a newspaper or magazine. |
| Dutch | In Dutch, "roman" can also refer to a Catholic church or a type of lettuce. |
| Esperanto | The word "romano" in Esperanto is derived from the Latin word for "Romance", referring to the Romance languages. |
| Estonian | "Romaani" tuleb keskaegse ladina keelest "romant" ja tähistab kõike imelist, imepärast, eriskummalist või fantastilist. |
| French | The French word "roman" derives from an Old French word for "tale," and originally referred to a type of medieval prose narrative. |
| Frisian | It is cognate with German Roman and Dutch roman and means 'novel'. |
| Galician | In Galician, "novela" also refers to a fictionalized story told orally in traditional gatherings. |
| Georgian | In Georgian, the word |
| German | The word “Roman” comes from the Old French word for “story,” "romanz," borrowed from Medieval Latin romanice loqui, or "to speak in the Roman manner." |
| Greek | The word "μυθιστόρημα" comes from the Greek "μύθος," meaning "myth," and "ἱστορία," meaning "history," hinting at the novel's connection to both fictional and historical narratives. |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word "નવલકથા" originates from Sanskrit and translates to "new story" or "fresh narrative." |
| Haitian Creole | Woman is also the name for the goddess of the seas in the Vodun religion. |
| Hausa | Labari can also translate to "news", "information", or "tale" and often appears in Hausa newspapers. |
| Hawaiian | In Hawaiian, the word moʻolelo has multiple meanings, including 'story', 'history', and 'tradition'. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "רוֹמָן" is also the name of a pomegranate and is related to the Latin word "malum granatum", meaning "apple with seeds". |
| Hindi | "उपन्यास" originates from Sanskrit and means "new" or "near"; the alternate meaning refers to something "interesting or delightful." |
| Hmong | "Dab neeg" in Hmong also means "story", "tale", or "fiction." |
| Hungarian | The Hungarian word "regény" derives from the Latin "res gestae", meaning "events that happened", and originally denoted a historical narrative. |
| Icelandic | The Icelandic word "skáldsaga" originally referred to a historical saga composed in verse form, but later came to mean any narrative work of fiction. |
| Indonesian | In Indonesian, the word 'novel' can also refer to a genre of classical Javanese literature consisting of prose and poetry. |
| Irish | Úrscéal, which means "novel" in modern Irish, originally referred to an "oral tale" or "great story." |
| Italian | "Romanzo", from the Late Latin "romanice", meaning "in the vernacular", has come to mean "novel" while its original meaning of "romance" lives on in the term "romanza". |
| Japanese | The word "小説" (shōsetsu) originally meant "small talk" or "fictional stories" in Japanese. |
| Javanese | The Javanese word for 'novel' is 'novèl', which is derived from the Dutch word 'novel' and refers to a fictional literary work. |
| Kannada | ಕಾದಂಬರಿ means a long prose narrative in Kannada, and is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Kadamba', referring to the fragrant Kadamba flower that symbolizes sweetness and joy. |
| Kazakh | The word "роман" (novel) in Kazakh also means "romance". |
| Khmer | ប្រលោមលោក means "extraordinary" and was derived from a Sanskrit term, "pra-lōma" (literally, "against the fur, against the grain"). |
| Korean | The word "소설" (novel) was originally a Chinese loanword that meant "small talk" or "untrue or trivial statements". |
| Kurdish | In Kurdish, "roman" also refers to a romantic relationship or a love story. |
| Kyrgyz | The word "роман" ("novel") can also refer to a romantic relationship, and is cognate with the English word "romance". |
| Latin | Derived from the Roman word "novus" meaning "new","Romanorum" (novel) initially referred to something "new" or "extraordinary." |
| Latvian | The Latvian word “novele” originally meant a fictional story, but today it is commonly used to describe a short prose work of fiction. |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "romanas" originated from the Greek "rhomaikos" meaning "of Rome" or "in the manner of Rome". |
| Luxembourgish | In Luxembourgish, "Roman" also historically referred to a religious procession or pilgrimage. |
| Macedonian | The word "роман" can also refer to a medieval epic poem in Macedonian. |
| Malagasy | The word "tantara" in Malagasy originally meant "story" or "tale" and was derived from the Arabic word "hadīth". |
| Malay | In Malay, "novel" can also refer to a unique or extraordinary thing. |
| Malayalam | The Malayalam word "നോവൽ" (novel) also means "new" or "strange", reflecting the sense of novelty associated with the literary genre. |
| Maltese | In Maltese, the word "ġdid" not only means "novel" but also "new" and "recent". |
| Maori | The word “pakiwaitara” can also mean “to publish, to print, or to release” in Maori. |
| Marathi | The Marathi word "कादंबरी" derives from the Sanskrit word "कादम्ब" meaning "a ball of flowers" or "a flower garland", highlighting the ornamental and captivating nature of novels. |
| Mongolian | The Mongolian word "роман" can also mean "story" or "fiction", and is derived from the Russian word "роман". |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဝတ္ထု originated from the Pali term "vatthu" (Sanskrit "vastu") and traditionally referred to chronicles, histories, and biographies rather than fictional works. |
| Nepali | The Nepali word 'उपन्यास' is derived from the Sanskrit term 'उप + न्यास', meaning 'to place near' or 'to append'. |
| Norwegian | Ordet «roman» kommer fra fransk, der betydningen er «fortelling», og er i slekt med ord som «romantikk» og «romanse». |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word 'buku lakale' can also be used figuratively in Nyanja to mean an 'old story' or a 'legend'. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "ناول" is derived from the Persian word "نو" meaning "new" or "fresh" and refers specifically to new or modern literary works. |
| Persian | The Persian word for "novel", "رمان", shares its root with words meaning "seed" or "germ", hinting at the book's potential to inspire ideas that "bear fruit in the reader's imagination." |
| Polish | The word "powieść" comes from the verb "powiedzieć" (to tell), indicating that it originally referred to a story told orally. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The Portuguese word "romance" comes from the Old French word "romans," which originally referred to a vernacular language text written in a Romance language, as opposed to Latin. |
| Punjabi | In Punjabi, "ਨਾਵਲ" can also refer to a new thing or idea, highlighting its innovative nature. |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "roman" (novel) stems from the Medieval Latin "romancia" and is related to "Romance languages" and "Romanian", denoting their common root in the spoken Latin of the Roman Empire. |
| Russian | In Russian the word “роман” (roman) can refer both to the literary genre or to an affair between two people. |
| Samoan | "Tala" also means "story," "speech," "news," and "rumor." |
| Scots Gaelic | The word 'nobhail' (novel) originally referred to a new tale, story, or piece of news. |
| Serbian | In Serbian, "роман" (roman) also means "love affair" or "romance", reflecting the genre's historical focus on relationships. |
| Sesotho | The word "padi" in Sesotho can also refer to a "story" or a "tale". |
| Shona | In Shona, the word "novel" can also mean "a new or unusual thing" or "a strange or unfamiliar person." |
| Sindhi | In Sindhi, the word "ناول" also means "news," "information," or "tidings." |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | නවකතාව (navakatāva) literally means "new story", and is used to refer to both fictional and non-fictional long works of narrative prose. |
| Slovak | The word "román" in Slovak comes from the French word "roman", ultimately deriving from the Latin word "romanus" meaning "relating to Rome". |
| Slovenian | The word roman, meaning “novel” in Slovenian, originates from the French word “roman,” which in turn derives from the Latin word “romānus,” meaning "Roman." |
| Somali | The Somali word "sheeko" has multiple meanings, including "story" and "event". The etymology of the word is unknown, but it might be related to the Arabic word "shakaa" (to tell a story). |
| Spanish | In Spanish, "novela" can also refer to a short story or novella, a soap opera, or a romantic story. |
| Sundanese | In Sundanese, the word "novel" can also mean "new" or "strange". |
| Swahili | Riwaya derives from the Arabic word 'riwāyah' meaning 'narrative' or 'story' and is a borrowed term in Swahili. |
| Swedish | The word "roman" in Swedish derives from the German "roman", itself taken from the French "roman", ultimately stemming from the Latin "romanicus", meaning "Roman". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The Tagalog word "nobela" comes from the Spanish word "novela", which itself comes from the Italian word "novella" meaning "new" or "news". |
| Tajik | In Tajik, "роман" can also mean "romance" or "love affair." |
| Tamil | The Tamil word "நாவல்" (nāval) has multiple meanings, including "new," "story," and "a type of tree." |
| Telugu | The Telugu word "నవల" is derived from the Sanskrit word "नवल" which means "new". |
| Thai | "นวนิยาย" derives from Sanskrit "nava" (new) and "katha" (story), and can also mean "short story" or "fiction". |
| Turkish | Roman in Turkish can also be used to describe a form of theater, particularly in the Black Sea region. |
| Ukrainian | The word "Роман" in Ukrainian shares its root with the word "романтика" (romance), both derived from the Proto-Slavic word "romanъ", meaning "story". The word "роман" also has a historical meaning of "a literary work about chivalry". |
| Urdu | The Urdu word "ناول" originally meant "a new thing" or "an innovation", and it is derived from the Arabic word "nawl" with the same meaning. |
| Uzbek | The word "roman" in Uzbek can also refer to a romantic relationship or a romance novel. |
| Vietnamese | The word "cuốn tiểu thuyết" is a compound noun, consisting of the words "cuốn" (meaning "book" or "volume") and "tiểu thuyết" (meaning "fiction" or "novel"). |
| Welsh | The Welsh word "nofel" also has the alternate meanings "new" and "strange". |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word 'inoveli' can also mean 'a new thing' or 'a new experience'. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "ראָמאַן" (roman) derives from the French "roman" and has the alternate meaning of "love story". |
| Yoruba | In Yoruba, 'aramada' is also used to refer to a 'story' or 'tale' told for entertainment. |
| Zulu | The Zulu word 'inoveli' can also mean 'news' or 'information'. |
| English | The word "novel" comes from the Latin word "novellus," which means "new" or "novelty." |