/ ˈfɪkʃn; NAmE / noun
1.
[ U ] a type of literature that describes imaginary people and events, not real ones :
a work of popular fiction
historical / romantic fiction
OPP non-fiction
—see also science fiction
2.
[ C , U ] a thing that is invented or imagined and is not true :
For years he managed to keep up the fiction that he was not married.
•
IDIOMS
see truth
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WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English (in the sense invented statement ): via Old French from Latin fictio(n-) , from fingere form, contrive. Compare with feign and figment .