fiction
n.-
1 literature (n.) A2 Elementarybooks and stories about imaginary people and events.
the genre of literature, typically prose, that describes imaginary events and people.
ExampleShe enjoys reading historical fiction because it makes the past feel alive.
ExampleThe library expanded its fiction section to accommodate the growing popularity of contemporary graphic novels and speculative prose.
UsageUncountable when referring to the genre; countable when referring to a specific work.
- non fiction
- fact
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2 a lie or invention (n.) B2 Upper Intermediatesomething that is not true or a story that someone made up to hide the truth.
a statement, story, or belief that is false or fabricated, often intended to deceive.
ExampleHis excuse about the car breaking down was a complete fiction.
ExampleThe official report was dismissed as a convenient fiction designed to protect the reputation of the local authorities.
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3 legal fiction (n.) C1 Advanced Technical Formal Lawa situation where the law treats something as true even if it is not, to make a rule work.
an assertion accepted as true by a court to allow a legal rule to be applied, despite its lack of factual basis.
ExampleThe idea that a company is a 'person' is a legal fiction used in court.
ExampleThe court relied on a legal fiction to establish jurisdiction over the offshore accounts, ensuring the defendants could not evade their obligations.
UsageUsually appears in the fixed phrase 'legal fiction'.
From Middle English ficcioun, from Old French ficcion (“dissimulation, ruse, invention”), from Latin fictiō (“a making, fashioning, a feigning, a rhetorical or legal fiction”), from fingō (“to form, mold, shape, devise, feign”). Displaced native Old English lēasspell (literally “false story”).
- Nounfaction
- Nounfiction
- Nounnonfiction
- Adjectivefictional
- Adjectivefictitious