How many words does it take to have a novel?

There's no single word count that defines a novel. It's more about the scope and completeness of the story than a specific number. However, a generally accepted range is 40,000 to 100,000 words, with many falling in the 70,000-90,000 word range. Anything significantly below 40,000 is usually considered a novella or a long short story, and anything much above 100,000 might be considered a very long novel or even a multi-part series.