Narrative is the general term for a story long or short; of the past, present, or future; factual or imagined; told for any purpose; and with or without much detail.
R E F E R E N C E S
Narrative n. 1. a story of events, experiences, or the like; narration. 2. a written or spoken work containing such a story. 3. the art, technique, or process of narrating. -adj. 4. consisting of or being a narrative. 5. of or pertaining to narration. [< L narrátiv(us) suitable for narration]
-Syn. 1. chronicle, tale, NARRATIVE, ACCOUNT, RECITAL, HISTORY are terms for a story of an event or events. NARRATIVE is the general term for a story long or short; of the past, present, or future; factual or imagined; told for any purpose; and with or without much detail. The other three terms apply primarily to factual stories of time already past. An ACCOUNT is usually told informally, often for entertainment, with emphasis on details of action, whether about an incident or a series of happenings. A RECITAL is an extended narrative, usually with an informative purpose, emphasizing accuracy and exhaustive details of facts and figures. A HISTORY, usually written and at some length, is characterized by a tracing of causes and effects, and by an attempt to estimate, evaluate, and interpret facts.
Narrate -v.t. 1. to give an account or tell the story of [events, experiences, etc.]. --v.i. 2. to relate or recount events, experiences, etc. in speech or writing. [< L narrát(us) made known, told [ptp. of narrár(us) knowing, acquainted with (var. of gnárus) + -átus -ATE1]
[Urdang, Laurence, ed. Random House Dictionary of The English Language. New York: Random House, 1968.]
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