Adjacent Words

Fiction definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FIC'TION, n. [L. fictio, from fingo, to feign.]
1. The act of feigning, inventing or imagining; as, by the mere fiction of the mind.
2. That which is feigned, invented or imagined. The story is a fiction.
So also was the fiction of those golden apples kept by a dragon, taken from the serpent which tempted Eve.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a literary work based on the imagination and not necessarily on fact
2: a deliberately false or improbable account [syn: fabrication, fiction, fable]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English ficcioun, from Middle French fiction, from Latin fiction-, fictio act of fashioning, fiction, from fingere to shape, fashion, feign — more at dough Date: 14th century 1. a. something invented by the imagination or feigned; specifically an invented story b. fictitious literature (as novels or short stories) c. a work of fiction; especially novel 2. a. an assumption of a possibility as a fact irrespective of the question of its truth <a legal fiction> b. a useful illusion or pretense 3. the action of feigning or of creating with the imagination • fictional adjective • fictionality noun • fictionally adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 an invented idea or statement or narrative; an imaginary thing. 2 literature, esp. novels, describing imaginary events and people. 3 a conventionally accepted falsehood (legal fiction; polite fiction). 4 the act or process of inventing imaginary things. Derivatives: fictional adj. fictionality n. fictionalize v.tr. (also -ise). fictionalization n. fictionally adv. fictionist n. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L fictio -onis (as FICTILE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fiction Fic"tion, n. [F. fiction, L. fictio, fr. fingere, fictum to form, shape, invent, feign. See Feign.] 1. The act of feigning, inventing, or imagining; as, by a mere fiction of the mind. --Bp. Stillingfleet. 2. That which is feigned, invented, or imagined; especially, a feigned or invented story, whether oral or written. Hence: A story told in order to deceive; a fabrication; -- opposed to fact, or reality. The fiction of those golden apples kept by a dragon. --Sir W. Raleigh. When it could no longer be denied that her flight had been voluntary, numerous fictions were invented to account for it. --Macaulay. 3. Fictitious literature; comprehensively, all works of imagination; specifically, novels and romances. The office of fiction as a vehicle of instruction and moral elevation has been recognized by most if not all great educators. --Dict. of Education. 4. (Law) An assumption of a possible thing as a fact, irrespective of the question of its truth. --Wharton. 5. Any like assumption made for convenience, as for passing more rapidly over what is not disputed, and arriving at points really at issue. Syn: Fabrication; invention; fable; falsehood. Usage: Fiction, Fabrication. Fiction is opposed to what is real; fabrication to what is true. Fiction is designed commonly to amuse, and sometimes to instruct; a fabrication is always intended to mislead and deceive. In the novels of Sir Walter Scott we have fiction of the highest order. The poems of Ossian, so called, were chiefly fabrications by Macpherson.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(fictions) 1. Fiction refers to books and stories about imaginary people and events, rather than books about real people or events. Immigrant tales have always been popular themes in fiction... Diana is a writer of historical fiction. N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl see also science fiction 2. A statement or account that is fiction is not true. The truth or fiction of this story has never been truly determined. ? truth, fact 3. If something is a fiction, it is not true, although people sometimes pretend that it is true. The idea that the United States could harmoniously accommodate all was a fiction. ? fact N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Invention, fancy, fantasy, imagination. 2. Novel, romance, work of fiction, feigned story. 3. Fabrication, figment, invention, fable, falsehood, lie. 4. Fictitious literature.

Foolish Dictionary

The Constitutional fiat that "all men are created equal."

Moby Thesaurus

Marchen, Western, Western story, Westerner, adventure story, allegory, anecdote, apologue, apparition, article, autograph, bedtime story, blague, brainchild, bubble, canard, chimera, cock-and-bull story, composition, computer printout, concoction, copy, delirium, detective story, document, draft, edited version, eidolon, engrossment, essay, exaggeration, extravaganza, fable, fabliau, fabrication, fair copy, fairy tale, falsehood, falsity, fancy, fantasque, fantasy, farfetched story, farrago, fib, figment, final draft, finished version, first draft, fish story, flam, flimflam, flimsy, folk story, folktale, forgery, gest, ghost story, half-truth, hallucination, holograph, horse opera, idle fancy, illusion, imagery, imagination, imagining, insubstantial image, invention, legal fiction, legend, letter, lie, literae scriptae, literary artefact, literary production, literature, little white lie, love story, lucubration, maggot, make-believe, manuscript, matter, mendacity, misrepresentation, mystery, mystery story, myth, mythology, mythos, narrative, nonfiction, nursery tale, opus, original, paper, parable, parchment, penscript, phantasm, phantom, piece, piece of writing, pious fiction, play, poem, prevarication, printed matter, printout, production, reading matter, recension, romance, science fiction, screed, scrip, script, scrive, scroll, second draft, shocker, sick fancy, slight stretching, space fiction, space opera, story, suspense story, tale, tall story, tall tale, taradiddle, the written word, thick-coming fancies, thriller, transcript, transcription, trip, trumped-up story, typescript, untruth, vapor, version, vision, whim, whimsy, white lie, whodunit, wildest dreams, work, work of fiction, writing, yarn