Etymology Explorer › English

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

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishfictionLiterary type using invented or imaginative...
2Middle Englishficcioun—
3Old Frenchficciondissimulation, ruse, invention
4Latinfictiofashioning, forming, formation; fiction
5Latin-tiō—
6Latindissertātiō—
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

Words derived from “fictional”

  • metafictional
  • nonfictional
  • fictionality
  • fictionally
  • fictionalization
  • fictionalize
  • fictionalism
  • fictionalist
  • semifictional
  • metafictionality
  • fictionalisation
  • metafictionally
  • fictionalizer
  • defictionalize
  • nonfictionally
  • defictionalization
  • hyperfictional
  • transfictional
  • fictionaliser
Every word from Ancient Greek χάλιξ →