Picaresque Novel
/ˌpɪkəˈrɛsk ˈnɒvəl/noun
A novel that follows the adventures of a roguish, low-born protagonist navigating society through wit, deception, and survival.
Did you know?The genre’s classic ancestor, the anonymous 1554 Spanish work Lazarillo de Tormes, uses a servant’s survival story to satirize clerics, nobles, and social hypocrisy.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*néwos
“New; fresh”
Classical Latin
Latin
novus
“New or unprecedented”
Medieval Italian
Italian
novella
“A new story or short narrative”
16th Century
Spanish
novela picaresca
“A rogue-centered narrative; novela means novel or story, while picaresca means relating to a rogue”
16th Century
Spanish
pícaro / picaresco
“Rogue, rascal / characteristic of a rogue; the deeper origin of pícaro is uncertain”
19th Century
English
picaresque novel
“A novel depicting the episodic adventures and social maneuvering of a rogue or antihero”
Explore more surprising origins