novella

views updated May 29 2018

novella Short, highly structured prose narrative. The form was developed by Giovanni Boccaccio in the Decameron (1348–53), and has proved popular since the 18th century. In modern usage, the term broadly denotes a work of prose fiction that is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel.

novella

views updated May 17 2018

no·vel·la / nōˈvelə/ • n. a short novel or long short story.