morsel
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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, past participle of mordere (“to 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.
- 1979, Roald Dahl, The Twits
- A mouthful of food.
- A very small amount.
- 2008, Pamela Griffin, New York Brides, Barbour Publishing Inc. (2008), →ISBN, page 70:
- Didn't even a morsel of decency remain in his brother?
- 2008, Pamela Griffin, New York Brides, Barbour Publishing Inc. (2008), →ISBN, page 70:
Synonyms[edit]
- See also Thesaurus:modicum.
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
small fragment
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Further reading[edit]
- morsel in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- morsel in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911.
- “morsel” in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press.
- “morsel” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2021.
Anagrams[edit]
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 *merə- (“to rub, wipe; to pack, rob”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
morsel 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]
Categories:
- 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
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable 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