Where does “fictional” come from?

Fictional derives from English fiction, from Latin fictionem (accusative of fictio, meaning "a fashioning or feigning"), from the Latin suffix -tio, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dʰeyǵʰ- meaning "to form or shape."

fictional (English): Invented, as opposed to real; Containing invented...

Definitions

  1. Invented, as opposed to real; Containing invented...

Ancestry of “fictional”, step by step

fictional traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English fiction

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishfictionLiterary type using invented or imaginative...
2Middle EnglishficciounAn invention or fabrication
3Old Frenchficciondissimulation, ruse, invention
4Latinfictiofashioning, forming, formation; fiction
5Latin-tiōtion, -ation, -ing
6Latindissertātiō(spoken) dissertation, discourse, disquisition
7Latindissertusarranged, disposed; explained
8Latindissereresecond-person singular future passive indicative...
9Latindis-asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;...
10Latincalceusshoe
11Latincalxlimestone; chalk; the finish line
12Ancient Greekχάλιξsmall stone, pebble; gravel, rubble

via French fictionnel

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchfictionnelfictional

Words derived from “fictional

Every word from Ancient Greek χάλιξEvery word from Latin -tiōEvery word from Latin dis-
fictional — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer