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Novelty is the quality of being new. Although it may be said to have an objective dimension (e.g. a new style of art coming into being, such as abstract or impressionism) it essentially exists in the subjective perceptions of intelligent, sentient beings. That is, for something to be "new", there must be a being to experience it as such. To a rock or a plant, something new occurring isn't going to be recognized as new.

In various domains, it can have a specific meaning related to the general meaning. For instance:

• In chess, a novelty is a move which has never before been played in a recorded game.

• In patent law, the novelty is a requirement that an invention must meet in order to be patentable: see novelty.