English
light novel
Light novel comes from Japanese ライトノベル ‘a light novel’.
- Japanesemodernライトノベルraito noberu‘a light novel’
- Englishtodaylight novel
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Japanesemodernライトノベルraito noberu‘a light novel’
- Englishtodaylight novel
The story
Phono-semantic matching of Japanese ライトノベル (raito noberu), itself a wasei eigo (和製英語; pseudo-anglicism) derived from light + novel.
Every English word from Japanese ライトノベル
Today it means
noun A Japanese novel primarily targeting young adults, typically illustrated (in an anime/manga style) and containing not more than 50,000 words.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Japanese ライトノベル / light novel