Where does “metafiction” come from?

metafiction (English) comes from English fiction, from Middle English ficcioun, from Old French ficcion, from Latin fictio, from Latin -tiō, from Latin dissertātiō, from Latin dissertus, from Latin disserere — small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble.

metafiction (English): A form of self-referential literature concerned...

Definitions

  1. A form of self-referential literature concerned...

Ancestry of “metafiction”, step by step

metafiction 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 English meta

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishmetaSelf-referential; structured analogously, but at...
2Latinmētacone, pyramid
3Proto-West Germanicmōtijanto meet
4Proto-Germanicmōtijanąto meet, encounter
5Proto-Germanicmōtąmeeting
6Proto-Indo-Europeanmeh₂d-to be wet, to become wet; to meet, approach,...

Words derived from “metafiction

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