sentences:  The term "novel", borrowed from the Italian "novella", originally meant "Any of a number of tales or stories making up a larger work; a short narrative of this type, a fable" and was then many times used in the plural, reflecting the usage as in "Decameron" and its followers.Usage of the more italianate "novella" in English seems to be a bit younger.The differenciation of the two terms seems to have occurred only in the 19th century, following the new fashion of the novella in German literature.