Novation

the l'eace of (no-va's hun Utrecht, 1714.) [From Pop. 387,300. L. nov are, to make new.] (Law) The substitution of a new debt in lieu of an old one. Nova Zembla, (-zěm'blah,) a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean, belonging to and lying N. of Ru ia, from which they are divided by the Sea of Kara and Strait of Waigatz, bet. N. Lat. 70° 30′-76° 30′, E. Lon. 520-56°. They are barren and uninhabited. Novel, (nov'ěl.) [ From Ital. novella; from L. nov us, new.] (Lit.) A fictitious tale, or imaginary history of real life, generally intended to exhibit the operations of the pa ions, foremost among which is love. The novel and romance, though sometimes confounded, appear to be different. The former depicts life as it is in ordinary circumstances, and brings together incidents, any one of which has happened, or may very fairly be supposed to have happened. Romances generally relate to periods long pa ed by; their incidents are often improbable, and sometimes impo ible. Some of Sir Walter Scott's works hold in many respects an intermediate position: his delineation of real, though past manners, renders them novels; but the distant times of which he writes, and the wonderful, though perhaps always absolutely po ible, incidents he so frequently introduces, brings them into the cla of romances. (Civil Law.) A term used for the constitutions of several emperors. Those of Just in i an are best known, and are generally understood by the term. They were so called, either from their producing a great alteration in the face of the ancient law, or because they were made on new cases, and, after the revival of the ancient code, compiled by order of that emperor. [s. 653]