1. A fictitious prose narrative of considerable length and complexity, portraying characters and usually presenting a sequential organization of action and scenes.
2. A fictional prose work with a relatively long and often complex plot, usually divided into chapters, in which the story traditionally develops through the thoughts and actions of its characters.
3. Etymology: the meaning of "fictitious narrative" came from Italian novella, "short story"; but originally it meant "new story" from Latin novella, "new things" based on Middle French novelle, then French nouvelle, a form of novellus.