Meanings
nounnonfiction (countable and uncountable, plural nonfictions)
plural nonfictions · alternative non-fiction
- countableuncountableWritten works intended to give facts, or true accounts of real things and events. Often used attributively.
Encyclopedias, how-to manuals and biographies are all considered nonfiction and so are kept in the nonfiction section.
1 more example
A sudoku book sits atop the Nielsen BookScan nonfiction best-seller list.
2005 May 23, Eric Pfanner, “Puzzling phenomenon sweeps British papers”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 28 Oct 2021
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*né
- Proto-Germanic*ne
- Proto-Indo-European*ís?
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁óynos
- Proto-Germanic*ainaz
- Proto-Germanic*nainaz
- Proto-West Germanic*nain
- Old Englishnān
- Middle Englishnon
- Old Englishnān
- Old Englishnān-
- Middle Englishnon-
- Englishnon-
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰeyǵʰ-
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰinéǵʰti
- Proto-Italic*θingō
- Proto-Italic*fingō
- Latinfingō
- Latinfictiō
- Old Frenchficcion
- Middle Englishficcioun
- Englishfiction
- Englishnonfiction
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 非虛構文學 /非虚构文学
- 非虛構文學 /非虚构文学 (fēi-xūgòu wénxué)written works intended to give facts
Czech literatura faktu
- literatura faktuwritten works intended to give facts
Danish faglitteratur
- faglitteraturwritten works intended to give facts
Dutch non-fictie
- non-fictiewritten works intended to give facts
Esperanto nefikcio
- nefikciowritten works intended to give facts
Finnish tietokirjallisuus
- tietokirjallisuuswritten works intended to give facts
French non-fiction
- non-fictionwritten works intended to give facts
German Sachliteratur
- Sachliteraturwritten works intended to give facts
Hungarian ismeretterjesztő
- ismeretterjesztőwritten works intended to give facts
Italian saggistico, saggistica
- saggisticowritten works intended to give facts
- saggisticawritten works intended to give facts
Japanese ノンフィクション
- ノンフィクション (nonfikushon)written works intended to give facts
Norwegian faglitteratur
- faglitteraturwritten works intended to give facts
Persian غیرداستان
- غیرداستان (ġeyr-e-dâstân)written works intended to give facts
Polish literatura faktu
- literatura faktuwritten works intended to give facts
Russian документа́льная литерату́ра
- документа́льная литерату́ра (dokumentálʹnaja literatúra)written works intended to give facts
Spanish no ficción
- no ficciónwritten works intended to give facts
Swahili sibunilizi
- sibuniliziwritten works intended to give facts
Swedish facklitteratur
- facklitteraturwritten works intended to give facts
Thai สารคดี
- สารคดี (sǎa-rá-ká-dii)written works intended to give facts
Vietnamese phi hư cấu, không hư cấu
- phi hư cấuwritten works intended to give facts
- không hư cấuwritten works intended to give facts
Cite this entry
APA
nonfiction. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonfiction
MLA
“nonfiction.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonfiction. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nonfiction,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonfiction.
Source: nonfiction on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.