morsel
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English morsel, from Old French morsel, from Medieval Latin morsellum (“a bit, a little piece”), diminutive of Latin morsum (“a bit”), neuter of morsus, perfect passive participle of mordeo (“I bite”). Compare French morceau.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
morsel (plural morsels)
- A small fragment or share of something, commonly applied to food.
- 1979, Roald Dahl, The Twits:
- By sticking out his tongue and curling it sideways to explore the hairy jungle around his mouth, he was always able to find a tasty morsel here and there to nibble on.
- A mouthful of food.
- 1644, James Howell, England’s Teares, for the Present Wars, […], London: […] Richard Heron, →OCLC, page 4:
- Me thinks I ſee the Turke nodding vvith his Turban, and telling me that I ſhould thanke Heaven for that diſtance vvhich is betvvixt us, els he vvould ſvvallovv me all up at one morſell; […]
- A very small amount.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:modicum
- 2008, Pamela Griffin, New York Brides, Barbour Publishing, →ISBN, page 70:
- Didn't even a morsel of decency remain in his brother?
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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Further reading[edit]
- “morsel”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “morsel”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “morsel”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “morsel”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Verb[edit]
morsel (third-person singular simple present morsels, present participle morseling or morselling, simple past and past participle morseled or morselled)
- (transitive) To divide into small pieces.
- Synonym: morselize
- (transitive, obsolete, rare) To feed with small pieces of food.
Anagrams[edit]
Middle English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from Old French morsel, morsiel, morcel.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
morsel (plural morsels)
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]
- “morsel, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Old French[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Medieval Latin morsellum (“a bit, a little piece”), diminutive of Latin morsum (“a bit”), neuter of morsus, past participle of mordeō, mordēre (“bite, nibble, gnaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)merd- (“to rub, wipe; to pack, rob”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
morsel oblique singular, m (oblique plural morseaus or morseax or morsiaus or morsiax or morsels, nominative singular morseaus or morseax or morsiaus or morsiax or morsels, nominative plural morsel)
Descendants[edit]
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)merd-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Medieval Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɔː(ɹ)səl
- Rhymes:English/ɔː(ɹ)səl/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms with rare senses
- Middle English terms borrowed from Old French
- Middle English terms derived from Old French
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Old French terms derived from Medieval Latin
- Old French terms derived from Latin
- Old French terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Old French terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old French lemmas
- Old French nouns
- Old French masculine nouns