English
novelty
Novelty comes from Latin novellus ‘novel, newly made’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnovellus1‘novel, newly made’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400novelté1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500novelte1
- Englishearliest quotation 1748novelty1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English novelty
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1748, David Hume, London: Oxford University Press: “Reconciling profound enquiry with clearness, and truth with novelty.”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnovellusWiktionary, English novelty‘novel, newly made’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400noveltéWiktionary, English novelty
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500novelteWiktionary, English novelty
- Englishearliest quotation 1748noveltyWiktionary, English novelty. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1748, David Hume, London: Oxford University Press: “Reconciling profound enquiry with clearness, and truth with novelty.”
Equivalent to novel + -ty
Proto-Indo-European *nu ‘now’
…
Latin novus ‘new’
Latin novellus ‘new, young’
Vulgar Latin *novella
Italian novella ‘tale, short story’
English novel
Linked words
through Latin novellus ‘novel, newly made’
Today it means
noun The state of being new or novel; newness.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “novelty”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin novellus / novelty