noveltyn.adj.
/ˈnɒvlti/, U.S. /ˈnɑvəlti/ A. n.
1. † c. Usually in plural. News; tidings. Obsolete.
a. Something new, not previously experienced, unusual, or unfamiliar; a novel thing.Also the novelty: the newest thing (now rare).Frequently with negative connotation in early use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > conversation > [noun] > topic of or subject for conversation or gossip
talec1230
noveltyc1384
talking-stock1548
table talk1572
talk-stuff1598
talk1624
conference1633
town talk1642
conversation piece1784
talking point1922
society > communication > information > news or tidings > [noun] > subject of
noveltyc1384
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > newness or novelty > [noun] > a new thing or novelty
newOE
noveltyc1384
novelry1395
novela1450
novality?c1450
neweltyc1475
newel1484
newinga1500
newfangle?1510
novalty1563
newelry?1578
fangle1583
newie1924
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Tim. vi. 20 Eschewinge curside noueltees of voyces [L. vocum novitates].
c1395 G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale 1004 They were glad right for the noueltee To han a newe lady of hir toun.
a1425 Dialogue Reason & Adversity (Cambr.) (1968) 13 (MED) Þat þe sones of pore men gouernen may riche remes, telle it for no tyþingges, for it is no nouelte.
c1425 Bk. Found. St. Bartholomew's (1923) 42 (MED) A nouelte wondirfull there nowe happid: the calfe that newly was browght forth yn-to the light from his modir-is wombe hadde boith endes of his erys kyt of.
1447 O. Bokenham Lives of Saints (Arun.) (1938) 1983 (MED) Whan þis miracle a-bowte was blowe..Ful gret ioy was of þat nouelte.
a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 197 Of al maner thinges and noveltees that wer in baldak, and not in lumbardye.
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1546) sig. B The tyme is an inuenter of nouelties.
1585 J. Stell in T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie Ep. Ded. The general profite and pleasure of..such as delight in nouelties.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. ix. 386 They are curious, and great louers of nouelties.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 891 O why did God..create at last This noveltie on Earth? View more context for this quotation
1728 R. Morris Ess. Anc. Archit. 21 Blindly fond of every little Novelty offer'd to our view.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §241 The level platform we had then obtained being something of a novelty.
1835 W. Irving Tour on Prairies xx The sight of the wild horse had been a great novelty.
1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest II. viii. 295 Such visits as those..were, in England at least, altogether novelties.
1868 ‘H. Lee’ Basil Godfrey's Caprice vii They're the novelty quite, but chancy things to sell.
1902 O. Wister Virginian ii. 15 I had stepped into a world new to me indeed, and novelties were occurring with scarce any time to get breath between them.
1931 H. S. Williams Bk. Marvels 57 By no chance do wood thrush and hermit thrush..put in appearance until some weeks after the sight of the robin has ceased to be a novelty.
1954 Jrnl. Econ. Hist. 14 4 During the late 1890's and early 1900's..the feeling that the motor car was an expensive novelty with limited market potential was widespread.
1985 Headlight June 28/2 They used the program for a few months because it was a novelty.
b. A new custom or practice; an innovation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > newness or novelty > [noun] > innovation or avant-gardism > an innovation
novelty1395
novity1460
novation1501
innovation1548
initiate1603
introduction1603
renew1631
Remonstr. against Romish Corruptions (Titus) (1851) 84 Therfore feithful men forsaken the noueltees of this Innocent..that ben vngroundable and vnlicli to be sothe, and cleeue thei feithfulli to the wordis..and ordenaunce of Jhesu Crist.
1496 Acts II. 238/1 In purchessing and inringing of nouelteis and innouatiouns in the Kirk.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Cicero in Panoplie Epist. 55 The explication of causes which gaue originall to nouelties.
1678 N. Wanley Wonders Little World v. ii. §87. 473/1 Mustapha, brother to Achmet, succeeded, which was a novelty never before heard of in this Kingdom.
1850 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1849: Arts & Manuf. 447 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (31st Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 20, Pt. 1) VI Many applications have been made based upon alleged novelties in the feathering of the vertical float paddle wheel.
1876 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest V. xxiv. 385 The days of King Eadward remained the standard, every departure from which was noticed as a novelty.
1929 J. B. Priestley Good Compan. ii. i. 268 They enjoyed it because it was a splendid novelty, eating at that hour, and something of a novelty, perhaps, eating at all.
1988 L. Appignanesi Simone de Beauvoir iii. 47 It was still something of a novelty in those days for a woman to do things alone.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > news or tidings > [noun]
wordOE
tiding1069
messagec1325
sound1413
news1417
advicec1425
noveltya1450
novelsc1450
newel1484
strangesa1500
nouvellesc1500
uncouthsa1529
occurrent1583
actualité1840
a1450 York Plays (1885) 205 (MED) ‘Welcome, Porter! what novelte Telle vs þis owre?’ ‘Sirs, novelte I can ȝou tell.’
1462 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 118 That no man be so hardy to seye ne telle oney false noueltes or tydyngys whero[f] aney dyscorde or slaundre may ryse or growe.
a1475 (a1447) O. Bokenham Mappula Angliae in Englische Studien (1887) 10 32 (MED) Thes peeple..is wondur coryous & besy to knowyn and to tellyn tydyngis & noveltees & merveylles syche as þey hane herde or seyen.
?1504 W. Atkinson tr. Thomas à Kempis Ful Treat. Imytacyon Cryste (Pynson) i. xx. 169 If thou haue delyte to here noueltise thou muste somtyme therof suffer trybulacyon of herte.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. clxxxiijv The duke of Yorke.., somwhat spurred and quickened with these noueltyes, retired backe.
1595 W. S. Lamentable Trag. Locrine ii. i What uncouth novelties Bring'st thou unto our royal majesty?
c1613 in T. Stapleton Plumpton Corr. (1839) 31 Thomas can enforme you of novelties in this countrie better then I can write.
d. Innovation in thought or belief; heresy; (also) an instance of this. Now historical and rare.
ΚΠ
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 343 That we purge ourselves of the cryme of novelty, falsely obbraydid agaynst us by Osorius.
1653 J. Collinges Responsoria ad Erratica Piscatoris Postscr. sig. T4v The greater sort of people are complexionated to superstition... Others are complexionated to errour and novelties.
1661 J. Gauden Considerations Liturgy 12 The Liturgy..vindicates the..Catholick use of Infant Baptism against the Anabaptistical novelty and Catabaptistical perverseness.
a1716 O. Blackall Wks. (1723) I. 499 Our Saviour was no Affecter of Novelty in Devotion.
1990 Sun (Brisbane) 4 May 25/2 Several hundred years ago in England, a fellow called Roger Bacon rediscovered gunpowder—which the Chinese had invented centuries earlier—and was locked up for 20 years for ‘uttering novelties’.
e. An often useless or trivial but decorative or amusing object, esp. one relying for its appeal on the newness of its design. Also (in later use): spec. a small inexpensive toy or trinket. Frequently in plural.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > [noun] > ornamentation or decoration > an ornament > new
novelty1840
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > insubstantial > showy or fanciful but insubstantial
gewgaw?c1225
frivolc1450
whim-whama1529
jim-jamc1540
trickc1550
flamfew1574
ribaldry1594
bubble1598
kickshawa1616
fairy money1616
foolation1628
fingle-fanglea1652
trangama1658
tinsel1660
gingerbread1664
finnimbrun1676
gimcrack1676
knacka1677
tawdrum1680
knick-knack1682
trantlum1768
knick-knacket1793
folderol1820
jigamaree1824
novelty1840
fool's gold1870
flapdoodle1877
fal-lal1902
1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack (1878) Finale 42/3 (advt.) Fashionable fabrics of all kinds, including silks, satins,..novelties in black fancy materials, woolens, linens, etc., etc.
1901 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 19 Oct. 4/6 (advt.) Sterling Silver Novelties. An English manufacturer's range of samples: no two pieces alike. Puff Boxes, Tooth Brush Boxes, Vases, Cigarette Cases, Match Boxes, Napkin Rings.
1911 Woman's Home Compan. Apr. 28/3 This idea can be carried out to any extent by having quantities of things which are more or less novelties to sell.
1933 Planning 1 xvi. 14 The climax to this orgy of designs is reached at Christmas-time when the shops are filled with ‘novelties’ that no customer would think of wanting for himself.
1972 Guardian 23 Dec. 1/1 A cracker-making contract..has been withdrawn because blue jokes were found with the paper hats and novelties.
1990 Confectionery Manuf. & Marketing Mar. 22/3 Their products include an extensive range of hand made chocolates and truffles, figurines and seasonal novelties.
2. † b. The newness or freshness of a thing. Obsolete.
a. The novel or unusual character of something.
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the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > newness or novelty > [noun] > novelty or unusual character of something
noveltya1387
newfanglenessc1395
newfanglednessa1542
newfanglement1798
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 67 For wonder of nouelte of þis doynge, me axede counsaille..of Appolyn.
c1400 Prose Versions New Test.: 1 Tim. (Selwyn) (1904) vi. 20 (MED) Tymothe, kepe þat þing þat is y-put to þe, & schonye wykked nofeltees of speches.
c1425 Bk. Found. St. Bartholomew's (1923) 50 (MED) The neyghborys were gaderyd all abowte..for the novelte of suche a dede, And all the peple were turnyd yn-to A stonyynge and an horror.
c1450 J. Capgrave Solace of Pilgrims (Bodl. 423) (1911) 36 Whann þei seyn þis gay bildyng..þei left mech of her deuocioun and stood and gased on þese uanities rith for nouelte of þe site.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry IV f. ijv Somwhat unquieted for the noueltie of the thyng.
1625 J. Usher (title) An answer to a challenge... Wherein..the noveltie of the now Romish doctrine [is] plainely discovered.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 46. ⁋1 The Novelty of the History, and Manner of Life, of the Emperor Aurengezebe.
1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. 1 The novelty and the importance of the duty required.
1841 E. W. Lane tr. Thousand & One Nights I. 127 The novelty of these amusements interested me.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. ii. 23 The novelty of this day's experience may have rendered it impressive.
1952 R. C. Hutchinson Recoll. of Journey iv. 105 A young student, one of intelligent curiosity, delighting in the novelty of every fresh experience.
1989 Theatre Res. Internat. 14 2 Only a small percentage of the audience could appreciate the novelty of the performance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > newness or novelty > [noun] > newness, freshness, or originality
noveltya1398
greenness1544
nap1591
verd1603
virginity1639
originalness1727
originality1782
freshness1807
verdurousness1856
unhackneyedness1884
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f.146 In hire comynge sche bodeþ nouelte of tyme.
?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 31 (MED) Who so takithe furst a nouelte of array on hym, thei ben moche spoken of.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) i. viii. 122 Ane hard myschans and novelte of this ryng [L. regni novitas] Constrenys me sic mastry forto schaw.
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. v. i. §4. 335 Some of the Syracusians..tooke armes against him, euen in the noueltie of his Rule.
3. Without article. The quality or state of being new, original, or unusual; that which is novel.In quot. 1785 personified.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > newness or novelty > [noun]
newnesseOE
novelrya1393
novelty1402
newelty1435
newhead?a1475
novelnessa1485
novellityc1485
novity1569
youtha1600
novelism1626
spick-and-span newness1640
noveltiness1690
brand-newness1854
gee-whizzery1971
1402 T. Hoccleve Lepistre Cupide (Huntington) l. 112 in Minor Poems (1970) ii. 297 So the wommen faren, al the pak... Ay they desiren chaunge & noueltee.
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope iv As by caas of nouelte he callyd the sayd yong man.
c1500 Three Kings' Sons (1895) 85 It thought them a cas of nouelte.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions v. 29 I maye..feare no note of noueltie, where nothing is but auncient.
1604 King James VI & I Counterblaste to Tobacco sig. Bv An inconsiderate and childish affectation of Noueltie.
1665 R. Boyle Disc. ii. i, in Occas. Refl. sig. B8 That unexpectedness being the highest Degree of Novelty.
1728 R. Morris Ess. Anc. Archit. 21 Any thing which has the least appearance of Novelty.
1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 54 Pleasure..leaning on the arm Of Novelty, her fickle frail support.
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) II. 16 To induce others to dive into this rich mine, with the additional value of novelty.
a1831 J. H. Newman in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) X. 287/1 Novelty in the speaker supplies the want of novelty in the matter.
1885 J. Ruskin Præterita I. vii. 238 Very early, indeed, I had found that novelty was soon exhausted.
1922 B. C. Williams in O. Henry Prize Stories of 1921 p. xvii Other members assert that it lacks novelty and vitality.
1972 E. H. Gombrich Story of Art (ed. 12) ii. 41 The pictures which he commissioned must have shocked the Egyptians of his day by their novelty. In them none of the solemn and rigid dignity of the earlier Pharoahs was found.
1990 TV Times 14 Oct. 44/6 Tokyo, a city obsessed by novelty, where the businessman is king, but tradition is the spine of life.
B. adj.
1. Designating a style of music or entertainment designed to have a frivolous or nonsensical appeal.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > [adjective] > qualities of music generally
wanton1583
martial1609
hesychastic1694
systaltic1694
figureless1887
ethnic1912
novelty1915
treacly1930
Afro1938
soft-focused1942
Afro-Caribbean1947
pop1956
toppy1956
shit-kicking1961
spacy1967
prog1976
loungy1977
1915 Christensen's Ragtime Rev. Sept. 7/2 It has that merry two-step swing, and would be classified as a novelty ballad.
1926 Melody Maker May 43/1 The theory is often advanced by dance pianists that novelty piano-forte solos are more effective to listen to than to dance to.
1933 Tararua Tramper Oct. 4 Grand novelty dance (in the new clubroom).
1940 Scrutiny 8 397 I am thinking mostly of course of the hack of Tin Pan Alley and the ubiquitous and cynically named ‘novelty’ number.
1955 L. Feather Encycl. Jazz (1956) 79 Novelty songs such as Ol' Man Mose and Brother Bill began to edge out the jazz material in his repertoire.
1989 New Musical Express 25 Feb. 21 This is no novelty act. A gimmicky party-piece band doesn't survive for four years.
1994 Minnesota Monthly Aug. 79/1 The bands actively encourage audience members in novelty dances (they even do the Bunny Hop in German).
2. Of a fabric, etc.: having an unusual texture, weave, or design.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from mixed fibres > [adjective]
novelty1916
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > thread or yarn > [adjective] > of mixed fibres
novelty1968
1916 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 23 July 8/7 This offering comprises Fancy Ribbons in warp-print, Dresden, Pompadour and novelty stripe and plain effects.
1945 M. D. Potter Fiber to Fabric iii. 51 Novelty yarns produce the attractive nubby effects seen in tweeds.
1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 94 Novelty, when used of fabrics this indicates that the material is made from more than one basic fibre and may be in an unusual weave.
1974 Guardian 26 Mar. 16/1 12 leading French cloth manufacturers will be showing..jerseys, shirtings, novelty silks.
3. gen. Of an unusual, innovative, and often decorative or frivolous design or type.
ΚΠ
1976 E. Scarrow N.Z. Veg. Gardening Guide 23 A number of newer and novelty vegetables..are proving popular in New Zealand.
1989 Woman's Realm 11 Apr. 5/4 There's also a great display of unusual and novelty teapots.
1992 Investors Chron. 23 Oct. 32/3 Sherwood has won a contract to supply novelty socks for Euro Disney.
1999 Health & Fitness Oct. 90/1 You can order top brands such as Durex, as well as novelty condoms.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a. † novelty-bit n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1792 Bishopric Garland (new ed.) iv. 9 The next was Will Dunn, our Painter, Who wanted a novelty bit.
novelty hunter n.
ΚΠ
1856 Southern Q. Rev. Aug. 258 The novelty hunter, ever wordy in proportion to his ignorance,..lays violent hands on the first idea that turns up.
1938 I. Goldberg Wonder of Words xviii. 372 We all know the novelty-hunter who uses his neologisms because he wishes to stun his reader.
2001 Southland (N.Z.) Times (Nexis) 13 Mar. 2 The airline..planned to take tourists and novelty hunters into inaccessible areas of Fiordland.
novelty-hunting n.
ΚΠ
1926 H. W. Fowler Dict. Mod. Eng. Usage 387/2 If each novelty-hunter struck out a line for himself, we could be content to register novelty-hunting as a useful outward sign of inward dullness, and leave such writers carefully alone.
1989 Daily Tel. 13 Nov. 19 The nadir of novelty-hunting is the appalling Radio 4 programme Loose Ends.
novelty value n.
ΚΠ
1959 Times 9 Mar. (Britain's Food Suppl.) p. vii/6 Novelty-value has its own appeal.
1997 Empire Sept. 106/1 Novelty value is about all it's useful for.
b. † novelty-affecting adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1640 G. Sandys tr. H. Grotius Christs Passion ii. 246 The Novelty-affecting Multitude.
C2.
novelty item n. a new item; something which has never been encountered before (with the implication that it will quickly disappear); spec. a frivolous thing, which has a certain amusement value, but usually little else to recommend it.
ΚΠ
1947 Towards World Prosperity xv. 304 Standardization of novelty items and handicrafts of all kinds should make it possible for China to capture a large part of Japan's far-flung markets in this field.
1982 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 29 Nov. tm578 Ace Novelty Co., Inc., Bellevue, Wash...Deely bobbers. For Novelty Item—Namely, a Head Band with Springs Carrying Ornaments... First use Dec. 4, 1981.
1996 Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) (Nexis) 22 Dec. b1 It sells hundreds of gifts, magic supplies and novelty items, including fart spray, a necktie with a golf ball on it and videotapes showing news footage from a specific year of someone's birth.
2002 Financial Times (Nexis) 12 Sept. 17 Will the idea sweep the country, dislodging the big private operators? Or is the deal purely a novelty item?
novelty shop n. a shop specializing in novelties (sense A. 1e).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trading place > place where retail transactions made > [noun] > shop > shop selling fancy goods or curios
gaudy-shopa1627
toy shop1691
knick-knackatory1702
knackatory1709
bazaar1807
curiosity-shop1818
bric-a-brac shop1840
novelty store1874
novelty shop1893
odditorium1914
gift shop1918
curio-shop1920
1893 N. Amer. Rev. June (Advertising section) 34 One of the best points in Pennsylvania for the location of:..boot and shoe factories, hardware, staple and novelty shops, [etc.].
1973 ‘I. Drummond’ Jaws of Watchdog xi. 145 The only retailer who handled the macabre Belgian masks had a novelty shop in High Holborn.
novelty store n. [after French magasin de nouveautés a type of large department store (1835; compare quot. 1874)] = novelty shop n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trading place > place where retail transactions made > [noun] > shop > shop selling fancy goods or curios
gaudy-shopa1627
toy shop1691
knick-knackatory1702
knackatory1709
bazaar1807
curiosity-shop1818
bric-a-brac shop1840
novelty store1874
novelty shop1893
odditorium1914
gift shop1918
curio-shop1920
1874 Appletons' Jrnl. 11 Apr. 465/3 The great novelty-stores, to translate literally their title of magasins de nouveautés, are comparatively recent institutions in Paris.
1921 Amer. Econ. Rev. 11 751 An accounting system which should prove satisfactory for the use of retailers, such as leather-goods dealers, novelty stores, cutlery houses [etc.].
1999 Herald (Glasgow) (Electronic ed.) 30 Dec. National Trust for Scotland shops and novelty store Pickwicks are among stockists of the £2.50 souvenir.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.adj.c1384