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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary fic·tion 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 English Etymology fiction late 14c., "something invented," from L. fictionem (nom. fictio) "a fashioning or feigning," from fingere "to shape, form, devise, feign," originally "to knead, form out of clay," from PIE *dheigh- (cf.O.E. dag "dough;" see dough). As a type of literature, 1590s. Fictitious is 1610s, from M.L. fictitus, a misspelling of L. ficticius"artificial, counterfeit," from fictus, pp. of fingere. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 fiction fic·tion / 5fikFn / noun1. [U] a type of literature that describes imaginary people and events, not real ones 小说: a work of popular fiction 通俗小说作品 historical / romantic fiction 历史/言情小说 OPP non-fiction ⇨ see also science fiction 2. [C, U] a thing that is invented or imagined and is not true 虚构的事；假想之物: For years he managed to keep up the fiction that he was not married. 多年来他设法一直给人一种未婚的假象。 IDIOMS ⇨ see truth Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English fiction noun 1 stories that are not true ADJ. contemporary, modern | classic | light, popular, pulp | literary, serious | crime, detective, historical, romantic, science VERB + FICTION publish, write | read PHRASES a work of fiction He has written over 20 works of fiction. | a writer of fiction a well-known writer of crime fiction 2 sth that is not true ADJ. pure Don't believe what she says?it's pure fiction! VERB + FICTION keep up, maintain She still tries to maintain the fiction that she is happily married. PHRASES fact and fiction Fact and fiction became all jumbled up in his report of the robbery. OLT fiction noun ⇨ lie Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged Search result show the entry is found in: legal fiction , or science fiction fic·tion \ˈfikshən\ noun (-s) Etymology: Middle English ficcioun, from Middle French fiction, from Latin fiction-, fictio, from fictus + -ion-, -io -ion 1. : the act of creating something imaginary : a fabrication of the mind 2. a. : an intentional fabrication : a convenient assumption that overlooks known facts in order to achieve an immediate goal b. : an unfounded, invented, or deceitful statement < the fictions on a bottle of patent medicine > 3. a. : fictitious literature (as novels, tales, romances) b. : a work of fiction; especially : novel 4. a. : an assumption of a possible thing as a fact irrespective of the question of its truth; specifically : an allegation or supposition in law of a state of facts assumed to exist which the practice of the courts allows to be made in pleading and refuses to allow the adverse party to disprove — distinguished from presumption b. : an assumption concealing or affecting to conceal that a law has undergone an alteration by which in its operation it is modified while in its letter it remains unchanged 5. archaic : the act of fashioning or inventing 6. a. : unfounded belief : assumption < all the fictions that go to make up a man's public reputation > b. : a practical or useful illusion or pretense < it was only a fiction of independence his mother gave him; he was almost totally under her power — G.A.Wagner > c. : an imaginary, ideal, logical, or hypothetical construct without a known counterpart in reality or a conception of assumed validity or actuality that serves heuristic purposes especially in the guidance of practical affairs < the average man is a fiction > Synonyms: figment , fabrication , fable : fiction may refer to any composition wholly an invention of the imagination or noticeably more the product of the imagination than of factual reporting < when we call a piece of literature a work of fiction we mean no more than that the characters could not be identified with any persons who have lived in the flesh, nor the incidents with any particular events that have actually taken place — A.J.Toynbee > < at a loss what to invent to detain him, beyond the stale fiction that his father was coming tomorrow — George Meredith > figment may suggest a product of unrestrained fancy or quite free imagination < a gigantic fancy of his own! And all these figures were figments of his brain — John Galsworthy > < the metaphysical figments of our own creation — Havelock Ellis > fabrication may apply to an account made up with artifice, deft or clumsy, and with specific intent to deceive < the doctor was a great liar, but a valuable liar. His fabrications seemed to be the framework of a forgotten but imposing plan — Djuna Barnes > < the government story was not a complete fabrication but a careful distortion — Christopher Devlin > fable may apply to an obviously fictitious narrative in which the impossible, marvelous, and incredible are employed, often to suggest some moral < the fables of Aesop > < whispered suspicions, old wives' tales, fables invented by men who had nothing to do but loaf in the drugstore and make up stories — Sherwood Andersonv > < witchcraft and diabolical possession and diabolical disease have long since passed into the region of fables — W.E.H.Lecky > |
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