Fiction: Definition, Usage & Common Examples

Meaning 1：imaginative narrative (fiction)

fiction 🔊

/ˈfɪkʃn/

Books and stories about imaginary people and events, like novels and short stories.

Fiction meaning illustrated: person reading an imaginative novel with a dragon cover in a cozy library.

imaginative narrative 🔊

➕

/ɪˈmædʒɪnətɪv ˈnærətɪv/

A general term for written works, especially novels and short stories, that describe imaginary events and people.

📁 Category：Entertainment & Sports 🔖 Level：初级

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Latin 'fictio' (a fashioning, a feigning), from 'fingere' (to shape, form, devise, feign).

💡 Mnemonic

Fiction sounds like 'fixin'' as in making something up—like fixing a story in your imagination.

📖 Example

When I need to escape from reality, I go to the library and pick up a good piece of fiction. 🔊 When I want to get away from real life, I visit the library and choose an engaging work of imaginative narrative.

🔗 Collocations

science fiction – A genre of fiction that imaginatively explores futuristic science and technology.

historical fiction – A narrative set in the past, blending historical facts with imagined characters or events.

literary fiction – Fiction that is considered to have significant artistic merit and intellectual depth.

🔄 Synonyms

novel (n.) – A long written story about imaginary characters and events.

story (n.) – An account of imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment.

tale (n.) – A narrative of real or fictitious events; a story.

🚫 Antonyms

nonfiction (n.) – Prose writing that is based on facts, real events, and real people.

fact (n.) – A thing that is known or proved to be true.

reality (n.) – The world or the state of things as they actually exist.

🌱 Derivatives

fictional (adj.) – Relating to or occurring in fiction; invented for a story.

fictitious (adj.) – Not real or true; imaginary or fabricated.

fictionalize (v.) – To make into a fictional narrative; to give a fictional version of.

📖 Cultural Story

The term 'fiction' derives from Latin 'fictio,' related to 'making' or 'shaping.' In ancient rhetoric, 'fiction' described inventive discourse. By the late 14th century, it entered English meaning 'invention of the mind.' It later became the standard term for prose narratives based on imagination, distinguishing them from factual accounts.