novelty

Etymology

From Middle English novelte, from Old French novelté (Modern French nouveauté), from the adjective novel, ultimately from Latin novellus.

noun

1. The state of being new or novel; newness.
   Men In Black 3 lacks the novelty of the first film, and its take on the late ’60s feels an awful lot like a psychedelic dress-up party, all broad caricatures and groovy vibes. May 24, 2012, Nathan Rabin, “Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3”, in The Onion AV Club
2. A new product; an innovation.
   Reconciling profound enquiry with clearness, and truth with novelty. 1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral., London: Oxford University Press, published 1973, § 10
3. A small mass-produced trinket.
4. In novelty theory, newness, density of complexification, and dynamic change as opposed to static habituation.
5. (chess) An opening move played for the first time ever (in high-level chess).
   Topalov has unveiled some interesting novelties lately, but there was nothing unusual in his opening here. Sasikiran played the Nimzo-Indian, and Topalov replied with probably the most classical continuation. 2007-05-27, Dylan Loeb Mcclain, “What Defines the Very Best? For Topalov, It's Fearlessness”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 2022-11-26
   It's not often a novelty comes as early as move seven nowadays, but in the latest round of the German Bundesliga, a recently discovered seventh move was employed to win a lovely game. 2012-12-18, Malcolm Pein, “Bundesliga chess revelation”, in The Daily Telegraph, archived from the original on 2023-02-05
   The Russian champion still did very well. Nepomniachtchi was only a wildcard, yet played with full force including an interesting novelty in the much analysed Berlin Wall Ruy Lopez. 2021-06-25, Leonard Barden, “Chess: Carlsen takes on No 1 junior, No 1 woman and No 1 rival on same afternoon”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 2022-01-29

adj

1. In the design of a common household item, often impractically large, and meant primarily for display rather than functional use.
   My novelty calculator works fine but it hurts my hands to press the keys.