morel

English

a morel Morchella conica

Wikispecies

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French morille (compare Picard merouille, meroule (“morel, mushroom”)), from Frankish *morhila (“mushroom”), diminutive of *morha (“root”), from Proto-Germanic *murhǭ, *murhijǭ (“carrot”), from Proto-Indo-European *mork- (“tuber, edible herb”). Akin to Old High German morhilo, morhela (“mushroom”) (German Morchel (“morel”)), diminutive of Old High German morha, moraha (“tree-root, plant root”) (German Möhre (“carrot”)). Equivalent to dialectal more (“carrot, root”) +‎ -el.

Alternative forms

• morell, moril

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /məˈɹɛl/
• Rhymes: -ɛl

Noun

morel (plural morels)

1. Any of several edible mushrooms, especially the common morel or yellow morel.
   • 2006, Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma, The Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 388:

     The slightly sulfurous, meaty odor of morels attracts flies, which lay eggs in the safety of the mushroom's hollow stalk.

2. Any of several fungi in the genus Morchella, the upper part of which is covered with a reticulated and pitted hymenium.

Derived terms

• black morel (Morchella angusticeps, Morchella conica, Morchella elata, Morchella septentrionalis)
• white morel (Morchella deliciosa)
• yellow morel (Morchella esculenta
• false morel (Gyromitra spp.)
• great morel (Atropa belladonna)
• petty morel (Solanum nigrum, Aralia racemosa).
• snow morel

Translations

genus Morchella

• Afrikaans: morielje
• Arabic: غَوْشَنَة‎ f (ḡawšana)
• Armenian: մորկեղ (morkeł)
• Breton: morukl
• Bulgarian: смръ́чкула f (smrǎ́čkula)
• Cherokee: ᎤᏂᏒᏙᏂ (unisvdoni)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 羊肚菌 (yángdùjùn)

• Crimean Tatar: qozu mantarı
• Czech: smrž (cs) m
• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: morielje (nl) f or m
• Esperanto: morkelo (eo)
• Finnish: huhtasieni (fi)
• French: morille (fr) f
• German: Morchel (de) f
• Hungarian: kucsmagomba (hu)
• Irish: morchal m
• Italian: spugnola f
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: смрчак m (smrčak)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: morkel (no) m

• Ottoman Turkish: یر الماسی‎ (yer elması)
• Polish: smardz (pl) m
• Romanian: zbârciog (ro) m
• Russian: сморчо́к (ru) m (smorčók)
• Serbo-Croatian: smŕčak (sh) m
• Slovak: smrž m, smrčok m
• Slovene: smȓčək m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: smarž m

  Upper Sorbian: smorž m, smorža f

• Spanish: colmenilla f, colmena (es) f, morilla f, múrgol m, cagarria f
• Swedish: murkla (sv) c
• Ukrainian: змо́ршок m (zmóršok)
• Volapük: morgil
• Welsh: morel m

common morel or yellow morel, Morchella esculenta

• Catalan: múrgola f
• Cherokee: ᎤᏂᏒᏙᏂ (unisvdoni)
• Finnish: pallohuhtasieni
• German: Speisemorchel (de) f, Speise-Morchel f, Rundmorchel f, Rund-Morchel f
• Irish: morchal coiteann m
• Japanese: 網笠茸, アミガサダケ (amigasa-dake)
• Latvian: lāčpurns m
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: smardz jadalny
• Russian: сморчок съедо́бный m (smorčok sʺjedóbnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: prȁvī smŕčak m
• Swedish: rund toppmurkla c
• Ukrainian: зморшок їстівний m (zmoršok jistivnyj)

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

morel (plural morels)

1. Archaic form of morello (“type of cherry”).
   • 1821, Thomas Nuttall, A journal of travels into the Arkansa Territory, page 122:

     The insects which injure the morel cherry-trees so much in Pennsylvania, I perceive, here occasionally act in the same way upon the branches of the wild cherry […]

Anagrams

• Lomer, Merlo